Blends of Syndiotactic Polystyrene with Polyamide

KEVIN NICHOLS, AKIHIKO OKADA, and HIROKI FUKUP 

Blends of two immiscible polymers are created to yield a material with properties that could not be obtained otherwise. Each component of the blend overcomes the property deficiencies of the other component of the blend. In the case of syndiotactic polystyrene (SPS)/polyamide (PA nylon) blends, the blends have improved strength, ductility, and creep versus SPS formulations, and the blends have improved dimensional stability and flow versus nylon compounds. Other attributes of the SPS/nylon blends are low specific gravity (lower weight parts), high thermal diffusivity (low cycle time), excellent electrical properties, good chemical resistance, and excellent United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) electric wiring components test performance. In this chapter, the composition, properties, and applications for SPS/ nylon blends will be reviewed. 

In this section, the polyamides (PAs) used in SPS/nylon blends are briefly explained. This is followed by a summary of SPS/nylon blend formulations the compositions of SPS/nylon blends that are claimed in patents are listed and finally SPS/nylon blends detailed in journal articles are described. 

Syndiotactic Polystyrene, Edited by Jurgen Schellenberg Copyright 2010 John Wiley Sons, Inc. 

The vast majority of SPS/nylon blends to date have been formulated using nylon 6 and nylon 6,6. nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 have essentially the same properties the difference is in the way these nylons are synthesized. Nylon 6 is made by ring opening polymerization of the monomer caprolactam, while nylon 6,6 is made from two monomers adipoyl chloride and hexamethylene diamine. The synthesis, properties, and applications of nylons are described in [1], 

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BLENDS OF SYNDIOTACTIC POLYSTYRENE WITH POLYAMIDE TABLE 16.4 USCAR Class III and IV Thennal Stability Test Results... 

Syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) is a hard, stiff material with high temperature stability and excellent isolator properties. The E-module of ca. lO Mpa is similar to that of polyamide 66, and therefore much higher than in amorphous polystyrene. These properties lead to new, very interesting apphcations, especially Lf sPS is blended with polyamides [6]. 

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