Tailored mechanical and thermal properties of polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) reinforced with nano-materials

Abstract

Various approaches have been proposed to enhance the thermal conductivity of polymers, primarily by incorporating high thermal conductivity nano-additives into the polymer matrix. In this study, graphene nano-platelet (GNP) and titanium diboride (TiB₂) were used as nano-additives while polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) was used as polymer matrix. Materials were dry-mixed in predetermined weight ratios and produced using compression molding. Tensile as well as hardness testing, thermal conductivity measurements and scanning electron microscopy analyses were conducted on the produced composite materials. Results show that an improvement in thermal conductivity values was observed. When 0.1 wt% TiB₂ is added, there is a 21% increase in the thermal conductivity compared to pure PPS, whereas the addition of 0.1 wt% GNP results in a 15% increase. Regarding mechanical properties, an increase of 11% in the tensile strength was observed with the addition of 0.1 wt% GNP.