Poly(phenylene sulfide) Containing Boron in the Main Chain for Shield Thermal Neutron

Abstract

AbstractThe thermal neutron shielding poly(phenylene sulfide)s containing boron (PPSmBs) are synthesized with sodium sulfide, dichlorobenzene and lithium bis[4‐chlorosalicylato(2‐)]borate (CLBSB) which is prepared with 4‐chlorosalicylic acid and boric acid. The structure of CLBSB is characterized and confirmed with 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), 13C NMR, 11B NMR and Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR). CLBSB exhibits excellent thermal stability with 5 % weight loss temperature (T5%) at 434 °C. The structure and the element composition of PPSmBs are analyzed by FT‐IR, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The melting temperature (Tm) of PPSmBs ranges from 280.7 to 284.1 °C, and the crystallization peak temperature (Tc) is in the range of 244.9–255.0 °C. The T5% is 472–492 °C, and tensile strength is 45.8–69.0 MPa, flexural strength is 56.0–106.2 MPa. The thermal neutron shielding properties are evaluated by the small angle neutron scattering spectrometer. The mass attenuation coefficient of PPSmB‐5 is 2.06 cm2 g−1, which is 30 % higher than that of PPS (2.64 cm2 g−1).