C(60) as fine fillers to improve poly(phenylene sulfide) electrical conductivity and mechanical property

Electrical conductive poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS)/fullerene (C(60)) composites were prepared by 1-chlornaphthalene blending method, and the interface effects of C(60) and PPS on PPS/C(60) properties were characterized. C(60) is an excellent nanofiller for PPS, and 2 wt% PPS/C(60) composite displayed the optimal conductivity which achieved 1.67 × 10(−2) S/cm. However, when C(60) concentration reached 2 wt%, the breaking strength and tensile modulus of PPS/C(60) 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/C(60) were attributed to the heterogeneous nucleation of C(60) during PPS crystallization, formation of a large number of covalent bond by main C(60)-thiol adducts and minor C(60)-ArCl alkylation between C(60) outer surface and PPS matrix. At same time, PPS/C(60) thermal properties were also investigated.