What material is PS?

PS is a polystyrene-based plastic, which refers to a kind of plastic with styrene group on the macromolecular chain, including styrene and its polymer. Specific varieties include ordinary polystyrene, high impact polystyrene, expandable polystyrene and metallocene polystyrene.

Polystyrene is a kind of thermoplastic resin, which is a shiny, transparent bead or granular solid. Density 1.04 ~ 1.09, transparency 88% ~ 92%, refractive index 1.59 ~ 1.60. Under the action of stress, birefringence is produced, which is called stress optical effect.

Extended data

PS is widely used in optical industry because of its good light transmission. It can be used to make optical glass and optical instruments, as well as transparent or brightly colored glass, such as lampshades and lighting appliances. PS can also make many electrical components and instruments that work in high frequency environment. Because PS plastic is a hard and inert surface material, it needs to be bonded with professional PS glue in industry.

When PS is used as a product alone, it is brittle, but adding a small amount of other substances, such as butadiene, can obviously reduce brittleness and improve impact toughness. This kind of plastic is called impact PS, and its mechanical properties are greatly improved. This kind of plastic can make many mechanical parts with excellent performance.

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