Performance Evaluation of Polybenzimidazole for Potential Aerospace Applications

Abstract

With the increasing use of polymer based composite materials, there is an increasing demand of polymeric resins with high glass transition temperature, high thermal stability and excellent mechanical properties at high temperature. Polybenzimidazole (PBI) is a recently emerged high performance polymer. It has the highest glass transition temperature of any commercially available organic polymer, high decomposition temperature, good oxidation resistance and it maintains excellent strength at cryogenic temperatures. Due to its excellent thermal and mechanical properties, PBI has great potential to be used for many high temperature applications. The present work has contributed to the knowledge and understanding of several aspects of the PBI polymer. Different problems related to the processing of unfilled and carbon nano-fibers reinforced PBI in the form of film, coating and adhesive are highlighted. Performance of PBI after exposure to various environmental conditions is evaluated. PBI has shown great potential to be used as fire resistant coating in aircraft. It also has revealed its potential to be used for different space applications.