The Role of Ferric(III) Oxide in Poly-(1,4-Phenylene Sulphide) Curing. EPR and X-ray Studies

Commercially available poly-(1,4-phenylene sulfide) = PPS with trade names TEDUR and RYTON contain a great amount of Fe(III) (order of 10$\text{}^{20}$ Fe/gram) as shown by electron spin resonance spectra. The curing of the pure and Fe-doped (0.2% Fe$\text{}_{2}$O$\text{}_{3}$) PPS polymers proves that Fe(III) can be used for improvement of the PPS strength by increasing the polymer cross-linking and a decrease in the polymer crystallinity degree as shown by X-ray diffraction.