Patent ID: 8138302
Filing Date: 2012-03-20
Classification: C08G

Abstract:
1. A process for producing a poly(arylene sulfide) by polymerizing a sulfur source and a dihalo-aromatic compound in an organic amide solvent in a reaction system, wherein the process uses reactants consisting essentially of alkali metal hydrosulfide, alkali metal hydroxide, and the dihalo-aromatic compound, in the organic amide solvent, which comprises the respective steps of: (1) a dehydration step of heating and reacting a mixture in the system containing (i) the organic amide solvent, (ii) the alkali metal hydrosulfide as an aqueous mixture with water, and (iii) the alkali metal hydroxide as an aqueous mixture with water, the alkali metal hydroxide being employed in a proportion of 0.95 to 1.02 mol per mol of the alkali metal hydrosulfide, calculated on the basis of the content (analytical value) of the alkali metal hydrosulfide, to discharge at least a part of a distillate containing water from the interior of the system to the exterior of the system, wherein hydrogen sulfide formed upon the dehydration is discharged as a gas to the exterior of the system, wherein the discharge of hydrogen sulfide to the exterior of the system is directly linked with a weight loss of sulfur amount in the system, and wherein in the dehydration step, alkali metal hydroxide reacts with organic amide solvent and forms an alkali metal alkylaminoalkanoate, and alkali metal hydrosulfide forms a complex with the alkali metal alkylaminoalkanoate, (2) a charging step of adding an alkali metal hydroxide and water to the mixture remaining in the system after the dehydration step, as needed, to control the total number of moles of (i) an alkali metal hydroxide formed with hydrogen sulfide formed upon the dehydration, (ii) the alkali metal hydroxide added prior to the dehydration, and (iii) the alkali metal hydroxide added after the dehydration, and to control the number of moles of (iv) water, to provide 1.015 to 1.050 moles of (i)-(iii) per mol of a sulfur source (hereinafter referred to as “charged sulfur source”) including the alkali metal hydrosulfide existing in the system after the dehydration and 0.5 to 2.0 moles of (iv) per mol of the charged sulfur source, wherein the amount of the charged sulfur source is calculated in accordance with an equation: [Charged sulfur source]=[Total moles of sulfur charged]−[Moles of sulfur volatized out after dehydration], (3) a first-stage polymerization step of adding a dihalo-aromatic compound to the mixture to subject the sulfur source and the dihalo-aromatic compound to a polymerization reaction at a temperature of 170 to 270° C., thereby forming a prepolymer with a conversion of the dihalo-aromatic compound of 50 to 98%, and (4) a second-stage polymerization step of controlling the amount of water in the reaction system after the first-stage polymerization step so as to bring about a state that water exists in a proportion of more than 2.0 mol, but up to 10 mol per mol of the charged sulfur source, and heating the reaction system to 245 to 290° C., thereby continuing the polymerization reaction, wherein the dehydration step and the subsequent polymerization steps are conducted in the same reaction vessel, and wherein at the completion of polymerization, a poly(arylene sulfide) having a bis(4-chlorophenyl) sulfide content lower than 30 ppm as determined by a gas chromatographic analysis, a melt viscosity value (MV1) of 30 to 500 Pa·s as measured at a temperature of 310° C. and a shear rate of 1,216 sec