Structure–property relationships for novel wholly aromatic polyamide–hydrazides containing various proportions of para-phenylene and meta-phenylene units: I. Synthesis and characterization

Abstract

A series of novel wholly aromatic polyamide–hydrazides was synthesized by a low temperature solution polycondensation reaction of either 4-amino-3-hydroxybenzhydrazide or 3-amino-4-hydroxybenzhydrazide with an equimolar amount of either terephthaloyl chloride (TCl), isophthaloyl chloride (ICl), or mixtures of various molar ratios of TCl and ICl in anhydrous N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) as a solvent. Polymer structures were identified by elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopy. All the polymers have the same structural formula except the way of linking phenylene units inside the polymer chain. The content of para- and meta-phenylene moieties was varied within this series so that the changes in the latter were 10 mol % from polymer to polymer, starting from an overall content of 0–100 mol %. The prepared polymers were characterized for their properties in order to acquire clear understanding of the influence exerted by controlled structural variations in these polymers upon some of important properties, such as solubility, intrinsic viscosity, moisture regain, mechanical properties and thermal as well as thermo-oxidative stability. The polymers were readily soluble in several organic polar solvents such as DMAc, N, N-dimethylformamide, dimethyl sulphoxide, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and hexamethyl phosphoramide and could be cast into flexible films. Their solubilities were found to increase remarkably with introduction of meta-phenylene moieties into the polymer chains. Their intrinsic viscosities ranged from 0.73 to 4.83 dl g −1 in DMAc at 30 °C and increased with the increase of para-phenylene units content. Mechanical properties of the films produced from these polymers are improved markedly by substitution of para-phenylene units for meta-phenylene units. Thermogravimetric studies revealed that the completely para-oriented type of polymer has better thermal and thermo-oxidative stability relative to that of the other polymers. Moreover, the results reveal that the prepared polymers have a great affinity to water sorption. The hydrophilic character increases as a function of meta-oriented phenylene rings incorporated into the polymer chains.