Resin Transfer Moldable Fluorinated Phenylethynyl-Terminated Imide Oligomers with High Tg: Structure-Melt Stability Relationship

Phenylethynyl-Terminated Imide Oligomer-Based Thermoset Resins

Phenylethynyl-terminated imide (PETI) oligomers are highly valued for their diverse applications in films, moldings, adhesives, and composite material matrices. PETIs can be synthesized at varying molecular weights, enabling the fine-tuning of their properties to meet specific application requirements. Upon thermal curing, these oligomers form super-rigid network structures that enhance solvent resistance, increase glass-transition temperatures, and improve elastic moduli. Their low molecular weights and melt viscosities further facilitate processing, making them particularly suitable for composites and adhesive bonding. This review examines recent advancements in developing ultra-high-temperature PETIs, focusing on their structure-processing-properties relationships. It begins with an overview of the historical background and key physicochemical characteristics of PETIs, followed by a detailed discussion of PETIs synthesized from monomers featuring noncoplanar configurations (including kink and cardo structures), fluorinated groups, flexible linkages, and liquid crystalline mesogenic structures. The review concludes by addressing current challenges in this research field and exploring potential future directions.

The soluble imide oligomers containing benzoxazole structure

A series of soluble thermosetting polyimide resins containing benzoxazole structure were synthesized by two-step polymerization using 4-phenylethynylphthalic anhydride (4-PEPA) as the end-capping reagent, 2-(4-aminophenyl)-5-aminobenzoxazole (BOA) and 3,4′-diaminodiphenyl ether (3,4′-ODA) as the aromatic diamines, and 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphthalic anhydride (6FDA) as the aromatic dianhydride. The imide oligomers were characterized by employing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), solubility tests and rheological measurements. Thermosetting polyimides derived from the imide oligomers were then produced via a thermal cross-linking reaction of the phenylethynyl group. The thermal and mechanical properties of the thermosets were studied using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMA), and mechanical property measurements. The effects of chemical architectures and molecular weights of the imide oligomers on processability, thermostability and mechanical properties were systematically investigated. The results showed that all the copolymerized imide oligomers possessed good solubility in organic and low melt viscosity, and the corresponding thermosets exhibited high glass transition temperature (up to 401°C) and 5% weight-loss temperature (up to 533°C) in an air atmosphere while excellent mechanical properties (flexural strength up to 217 MPa and elongation at break up to 11.2%). With the increase of the concentration of the benzoxazole group, the imide oligomers of PI-X-2 (-O-, -BO-, -B-) exhibited less solubility and higher minimum melt viscosity but improved glass transition temperature after curing and mechanical properties of their thermosets.

Methylethynyl-Terminated Polyimide Nanofibrous Membranes: High-Temperature-Resistant Adhesives with Low-Temperature Processability

As an alternative to traditional riveting and welding materials, high-temperature-resistant adhesives, with their unique advantages, have been widely used in aviation, aerospace, and other fields. Among them, polyimide (PI) adhesives have been one of the most studied species both from basic and practical application aspects. However, in the main applications of solvent-type PI adhesives, pinholes or bubbles often exist in the cured PI adhesive layers due to the solvent volatilization and dehydration reaction, which directly affect the adhesive performance. To address this issue, electrospun PI nanofibrous membranes (NFMs) were employed as solvent-free or solvent-less adhesives for stainless steel in the current work. To enhance the adhesion of PI adhesives to the metal substrates, phenolphthalein groups and flexible ether bonds were introduced into the main chain of PIs via the monomers of 4,4′-oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA) and 3,3-bis[4-(4-aminophenoxy)phenyl] phthalide (BAPPT). At the same time, the methylethynyl group was used as the end-capping component, and the crosslinking reaction of the alkynyl group at high temperature further increased the adhesive strength of the PI adhesives. Three kinds of methylethynyl-terminated PI (METI) NFMs with the set molecular weights of 5000, 10,000, and 20,000 g/mol were first prepared via the one-step high-temperature polycondensation procedure. Then, the PI NFMs were fabricated via the standard electrospinning procedure from the soluble METI solutions. The afforded METI NFMs showed excellent melt-flowing behaviors at high temperature. Incorporation of the methylethynyl end-capping achieved a crosslinking reaction at 280−310 °C for the NFMs, which was about 70 °C lower than those of the phenylacetylene end-capping counterparts. Using the METI NFMs as adhesive, stainless steel adherends were successfully bonded, and the single-lap shear strength (LSS) was higher than 20.0 MPa at both room temperature (25 °C) and high temperature (200 °C).

Improved Melt Processabilities of Thermosetting Polyimide Matrix Resins for High Temperature Carbon Fiber Composite Applications

With the goal of improving processability of imide oligomers and achieving of high temperature carbon fiber composite, a series of Thermosetting Matrix Resin solutions (TMR) were prepared by polycondensation of aromatic diamine (3,4'-oxybisbenzenamine, 3,4-ODA) and diester of biphenylene diacid (BPDE) using monoester of 4-phenylethynylphthalic acid (PEPE) as end-capping agent in ethyl alcohol as solvent to afford phenylethynyl-endcapped poly(amic ester) resins with calculated molecular weight (Calc'd Mw) of 1500-10,000. Meanwhile, a series of reactive diluent solutions (RDm) with Calc'd Mw of 600-2100 were also prepared derived from aromatic diamine (4,4'-oxybisbenzenamine, 4,4-ODA), diester of asymmetrical biphenylene diacid (α-BPDE) and monoester of 4-phenylethynylphthalic acid (PEPE) in ethyl alcohol. Then, the TMR solution was mixed with the RDm solution at different weight ratios to afford a series of A-staged thermosetting blend resin (TMR/RDm) solutions for carbon fiber composites. Experimental results demonstrated that the thermosetting blend resins exhibited improved melt processability and excellent thermal stability. After being thermally treated at 200 °C/1 h, the B-staged TMR/RDm showed very low melt viscosities and wider processing window. The minimum melt viscosities of ≤50 Pa·s was measured at ≤368 °C and the temperature scale at melt viscosities of ≤100 Pa·s were detected at 310-390 °C, respectively. The thermally cured neat resins at 380 °C/2 h showed a great combination of mechanical and thermal properties, including tensile strength of 84.0 MPa, elongation at breakage of 4.1%, and glass transition temperature (Tg) of 423 °C, successively. The carbon fiber reinforced polyimide composite processed by autoclave technique exhibited excellent mechanical properties both at room temperature and 370 °C. This study paved the way for the development of high-temperature resistant carbon fiber resin composites for use in complicated aeronautical structures.

Soluble Poly(amide-imide)s from Diamide–Diamine Monomer with Trifluoromethyl Groups

A series of soluble aromatic poly(amide-imide)s (PAIs) was prepared from a new diamide–diamine monomer having biphenyl units with two CF₃ groups. The diamide–diamine monomer was polymerized with 2,2′-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzidine and pyromelltic dianhydride through an imidization reaction to prepare PAIs with a controlled imide/amide bond ratio in the main chains. While the PAIs with the highest imide bond content showed a limited solubility, other PAIs were soluble in polar organic solvents and can be solution-cast into flexible freestanding films. All PAIs exhibited high thermal stability with 5% weight loss temperature (T_d5) from 464 to 497 °C in air, and no appearance of glass transition up to 400 °C. Notably, the linear coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) value of the PAI films was linearly decreased with the imide bond content and varied from 44.8 to 7.8 ppm/°C.