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POSS‐induced rheological and dielectric modification of polyethersulfone
Author(s) -
Shankar Rahul,
Kemp Lisa K.,
Smith Nicholas A.,
Cross Jacob A.,
Chen Beibei,
Nazarenko Sergei I.,
Park Jin Gyu,
Thornell Travis L.,
Newman John K.,
Morgan Sarah E.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.50537
Subject(s) - silsesquioxane , rheology , materials science , viscosity , polymer , scanning electron microscope , composite material , dielectric , dispersion (optics) , chemical engineering , nanocomposite , polymer chemistry , physics , optoelectronics , optics , engineering
Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanostructured chemicals, when incorporated at low levels in thermoplastics, provide processability enhancement and viscosity reduction without compromising other bulk physical properties. POSS has been relatively unexplored in high performance polymers, and there is incomplete understanding of the mechanisms by which POSS produces flow improvements. In this study, polyethersulfone (PES) was melt‐blended with trisilanolphenyl (TSP)‐POSS and dodecaphenyl (DP)‐POSS; and rheological, dielectric spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy evaluations were conducted to identify structure/property/processing relationships. TSP‐POSS yielded greater processability improvements and viscosity reductions than DP‐POSS, suppressed low temperature relaxations to a larger extent, and displayed a greater degree of nanoscale dispersion in the polymer matrix. The findings are evaluated in terms of competing theories of POSS viscosity reduction.