Summary: Solid‐state processing for the preparation of poly(p‐phenylenesulfide) (PPS‐) based nano‐composites having finely dispersed layered fillers was conducted. The mixture of PPS and organically modified layered filler (OMLF) (95/5 wt./wt.) was subjected to the processing using thermostated hot‐press at 150 °C, below Tm of PPS (i.e., PPS is still at the solid‐state), and applying pressures of 33 MPa for 30 s. The mixture exhibited disorder and delaminated layer structure with the thickness of 10–20 nm into the PPS matrix. In contrast, a nano‐composite prepared by melt compounding at 300 °C for 3 min showed large stacked silicate layers in the PPS matrix. The processing led to delamination of the silicate layers and attained the discrete dispersion.
TEM bright field image and FFT spectrum of a solid‐state processed PPS nano‐composite.
