Microstructure evolution and properties of polyimide fibers containing trifluoromethyl units

Abstract

A series of copolyimide (co-PI) fibers containing trifluoromethyl units were successfully obtained on the molecular design of 3,3′,4,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride, p-phenylenediamine, and 2,2-bis[4-(4-aminophenoxy)phenyl]hexafluoropropane (HFBAPP) via a widely utilized two-step wet-spinning method. Significant variations on the microstructures and properties of the resulting co-PI fibers were observed after the incorporation of HFBAPP moieties. The tensile strength and initial modulus of the fibers decreased from 0.70 GPa to 0.38 GPa and from 69.63 GPa to 9.60 GPa, respectively. However, the dielectric permittivity decreased from 3.62 to 2.85 in the frequency of 10 MHz as a result of the incorporation of trifluoromethyl units. Two-dimensional wide-angle X-ray diffraction showed that the fibers exhibited highly oriented molecular alignments along the fiber direction and low lateral packing degree in the transverse direction. In addition, the co-PI fibers possessed excellent thermal–oxidative stabilities with the 5% weight loss temperature ranging from 532°C to 552°C under nitrogen atmosphere and the glass transition temperature ranging from 312°C to 330°C.