C₆₀ as fine fillers to improve poly(phenylene sulfide) electrical conductivity and mechanical property

Electrical conductive poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS)/fullerene (C₆₀) composites were prepared by 1-chlornaphthalene blending method, and the interface effects of C₆₀ and PPS on PPS/C₆₀ properties were characterized. C₆₀ is an excellent nanofiller for PPS, and 2 wt% PPS/C₆₀ composite displayed the optimal conductivity which achieved 1.67 × 10^-2 S/cm. However, when C₆₀ concentration reached 2 wt%, the breaking strength and tensile modulus of PPS/C₆₀ fiber achieved maximum 290 MPa and 605 MPa, and those values were 7.72 and 11.2 times as that of pure PPS. The excellent conductive and mechanical properties of PPS/C₆₀ were attributed to the heterogeneous nucleation of C₆₀ during PPS crystallization, formation of a large number of covalent bond by main C₆₀-thiol adducts and minor C₆₀-ArCl alkylation between C₆₀ outer surface and PPS matrix. At same time, PPS/C₆₀ thermal properties were also investigated.