Patent ID: 8492502

Claim:
A process of preparing polyarylene sulfide comprising the steps of: a) melting and mixing a composition comprising solid sulfur, iodinated aryl compounds, and a polymerization terminator; b) polymerizing the molten mixture of step a) for 1 to 30 hours while increasing the temperature and decreasing the pressure from initial reaction conditions of a temperature of from about 180 to 250° C. and a pressure of from about 50 to 450 Torr to final reaction conditions of a temperature of from about 270 to 350° C. and a pressure of from about 0.001 to 20 Torr; and c) after the polymerization step of b), heating the reaction product of step b) at a temperature of from about 285° C. to 340° C. for 1.5 to 20 hours.