Polyphenylene ether blends

Examples of polyether blends not shown in earlier sections are listed in alphabetical order of the second polymer in the blend unless otherwise noted. Included in this section are polyphenylene ether blends not described in sections on PA, PEST, or PO. When copolymer characterization was not performed, the structure of the compatibilizing copolymer is inferred from the functionality location on each of the two polymers. In some cases, more than one type of compatibilizing copolymer may have formed. 

Chapter 9, Polyphenylene Ether Blends and Alloys, from GE Plastics describes traditional and new polyphenylene-ether grades based on GE Plastics Noryl . GE Plastics originally invented polyphenylene ether (PPE), its blends and alloys, and PPO polyphenylene oxide. Noryl is typically... 

Polystyrene was immiscible with HDPE, forming coarse domains. Addition of 9% styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene block copolymer gave much finer domain structure [19]. This compatibilizing effect was also observed in PS -I- polyphenylene ether blends with HDPE, where the styrene blocks of SEBS were attracted to the PS and PPE, improving interfacial adhesion and changing crazing dilation into shear yielding [89]. 

Peters EN. Polyphenylene ether blends and alloys. In Margolis J, editor. Engineering plastics handbook thermoplastics, properties, and applications. New York McGraw-Hill 2006. p. 181-220. Chapter 9. 

Polyphenylene oxide (PPO) or Polyphenylene ether (PPE) is an amorphous polymer with a softening temperature of about 210 °C. To improve its processability it is mostly blended with PS (modified PPE, e.g. Noryl ), which is at the cost of its heat distortion temperature. The properties are excellent the applications are mainly in fine-mechanical construction, in automotive parts, in household equipment etc. 

Polymer blends can be subdivided into two kinds those of compatible and those of incompatible polymers. Real compatibility is an exception (see 9.1) an example is PS with PPE (polyphenylene ether, also called PPO, polyphenylene oxide). These two polymers can be blended with each other on such a small scale that it really looks like molecular miscibility. This blend shows, therefore, only one single glass transition. 

Polymer Blends. Blending of polymers with each other accounts for approximately 40 percent of the present plastics market, and the practice is growing continually, because it permits the development of improved properties without the cost of inventing new polymers. When polymers are fairly miscible, as in the polyethylenes, and in polyphenylene ether plus polystyrene, blending can be used to produce intermediate properties and balance of properties. Most polymer blends... 

The good compatibility of PS and polyphenylene ether (PPE) has been used for a long time to make blends that even with a PS content in excess of 50wt% still count as modified PPE. The addition of PPE results in the increase of PS s heat resistance that can be raised to the same range as that for ABS. Result is a lower cost plastic. 

Polystyrene is one of the most widely used thermoplastic materials ranking behind polyolefins and PVC. Owing to their special property profile, styrene polymers are placed between commodity and speciality polymers. Since its commercial introduction in the 1930s until the present day, polystyrene has been subjected to numerous improvements. The main development directions were aimed at copolymerization of styrene with polar comonomers such as acrylonitrile, (meth)acrylates or maleic anhydride, at impact modification with different rubbers or styrene-butadiene block copolymers and at blending with other polymers such as polyphenylene ether (PPE) or polyolefins. 

Enhanced property demands in the packaging sector and also in the electric/ electronic and automotive sectors require improved product properties. Homogeneously miscible blends with, e.g., polyphenylene ether (PPE) combine the excellent processability of the amorphous polystyrene with the thermal stabilty of its blend partners. 

MABS polymers (methyl methacrylate-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) together with blends composed of polyphenylene ether and impact-resistant polystyrene (PPE/PS-I) also form part of the styrenic copolymer product range. Figure 2.1 provides an overview of the different classes of products and trade names. A characteristic property is their amorphous nature, i.e. high dimensional stability and largely constant mechanical properties to just below the glass transition temperature, Tg. 

Similar blends and also blends containing additionally polyphenylene ether and glass fibres are described in EP 767 211 [19]. 

This review summarizes our work at the University of Bayreuth over the last few years on improving the electret performance of the commodity polymer isotactic polypropylene (Sect. 3) and the commodity polymer blend system polystyrene/polyphenylene ether (Sect. 4) to provide electret materials based on inexpensive and easily processable polymers. To open up polymer materials for electret applications at elevated temperatures we concentrated our research on commercially available high performance thermoplastic polyetherimide resins and synthesized several fluorinaled polyetherimides to identify structure-property relations and to improve further the performance at elevated temperatures (Sect. 5). 

SBS with Polyphenylene ether (PPE) Evolution of PPE blends with SBS-type block copolymers is summarized in Table 1.23. SBS or its derivatives have been frequently used to stabilize the morphology in the newer, more complex blends. In Table 1.24 examples of this type of system are presented. 

Polyamide + Polyphenylene Ether Binary or Higher Blends... 

Polyester + Polyphenylene Ether H-Styrene Copolymer Ternary Blends... 

Polyphenylene ether resins were developed in the early 60 s but could not be processed because the thermal degradation temperature was a few degrees below the melt temperature required for processing. Later discovery that PS can act as a plasticizer lead to the introduction of PPE/PS, one of the most successful blend (Noryl , Prevex , Luranyl ). 

Blend families, i.e., blends of polyphenylene ether (PPE), blends of polyesters (PEST), blends of polycarbonate of bisphenol-A (PC), tend to be appropriate for certain types of apphcations which require the special attributes of the major blend component. For this reason, it is possible to group blend families together under the major resin component and to list the types of applications that have been commercialized. 

---