Non-Isothermal Crystallization of High-Impact Polystyrene/Poly(Phenylene Sulfide) Blends

Abstract

The morphology of isothermally crystallized poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) and a blend combining it with high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) were observed through a polarized optical microscope equipped with a CSS450 hot-stage. The crystalline superstructure of PPS is mainly spherulite, and it was found that the presence of HIPS has little influence on the morphology of PPS, but decreases the nucleation rate of PPS. The effect of HIPS on the non-isothermal crystallization of PPS was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The maximum and onset crystallization temperatures for the HIPS/PPS blend were about 10°C lower than those of neat PPS, which indicates that the crystallization of PPS was retarded by HIPS. The Ozawa model was used to analyze the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of PPS and its blends. The Avrami exponent values of neat PPS were higher than those of its blend, which shows that the presence of HIPS changed both the nucleation rate and the crystallization rate of PPS.