Poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) is a high-performance super-engineering plastic, but is brittle. In this study, super-tough PPS-based blends were successfully generated by melt blending PPS with poly(ethylene-ran-methacrylate-ranglycidyl methacrylate) (EGMA) and poly(phenylsulfone) (PPSU) at (56/14/30) PPS/EGMA/PPSU composition, and their toughening mechanisms were investigated in detail. It was demonstrated the interfacial reaction between PPS and EGMA and partial miscibility between PPS and PPSU, both play important synergistic roles on the toughening. The interfacial reaction between PPS and EGMA contributes to the reduction of the PPSU domain size by the increased viscosity of the PPS matrix containing EGMA, and the increased mobility of EGMA chains by negative pressure effect. The partial miscibility between PPS and PPSU contributes to the increased interfacial adhesion between PPS and PPSU, resulting in effective propagation of the impact to the domains, and the increased mobility of not only PPSU chains but also PPS chains, causing a reduction in crystallization.

The cover image by Saori Nara and colleagues shows TEM micrographs of (56/14/30) PPS/EGMA/PPSU exhibiting superb toughening with increase of the tensile impact strength over five times compared to neat PPS. The PPSU phase appears white (a size of 0.2 – 2 mm), the PPS matrix gray, and the EGMA with EGMA‐PPS copolymers is black (a size of 0.05 – 0.2 mm). The copolymers are formed in situ during melt mixing at the interface between PPS and EGMA and were dispersed only in the PPS matrix. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/app.49994

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