POLYMER BLENDS OF A POLYSILANE WITH POLYSTYRENE AND POLYPROPYLENE

Polymer blends were made from the polysilane copolymer ''polysilastyre ne'' [poly(dimethylsilylene-co-phenylmethylsilylene), PSS] at 0.2, 1.0 , and 5.0% concentration in polystyrene and also in polypropylene. Exc ellent dispersions up to 5% PSS were obtained with polystyrene, but wi th polypropylene some segregation of PSS was observed, especially abov e 1%. Blending of PSS with polystyrene decreased surface resistance, i ncreased hardness, and provided some protection from degradation by su nlight. Similar but smaller effects were observed for PSS-polypropylen e blends. The commercial polysilane copolymer PSS-120 was characterize d by NMR, UV, GPC, WAXD, DSC, surface resistance, and hardness measure ments.