Polyphenylene sulphide structure

The structural analysis using high resolution solid-state NMR has been successfully performed on other conducting polymers such as polyphenylene vinylene [21], polyaniline [22-24], polyphenylene sulphide [25, 26] and poly-p-phenylene [27-29]. 

Polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) was first produced in quantities that enabled its structure to be elucidated in 1948 but it was not until 1972 that the commercial exploitation of the material was begun by the Phillips Petroleum Company who named the product Ryton . As produced, it is a thermoplastic white powder, with a molecular structure based upon the repeat unit... 

Under high-humidity conditions, the chemical structure and low moisture absorption result in a very small dimensional change. Figure 7.10 shows very clearly both the small dimensional and weight changes for a glass-fibre-loaded LCP versus a glass-fibre-loaded polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) thermoplastic resin. 

Polyphenylene is normally a brittle material (see also Chapter 21). In order to obtain useful polymers it is necessary to space the rings with ether, sulphide or methylene links to make the structure less brittle. It is also essential to be able to control the reactions so as to have available intermediates which can be processed by conventional means. 

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