Miscibility of polyimide blends: Physicochemical characterization of two high performance polyimide polymers

The intermolecular interactions and miscibility behavior of two polyimide blend systems, Extem/Matrimid and Extem/U-Varnish, in compositions of 100/0, 80/20, 50/50, 20/80, 0/100 have been evaluated. The polymer blend systems have been characterized by different analytical techniques such as optical microscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and rheological measurements. DSC results for the Extem/U-Varnish system showed the existence of a single glass transition temperature (Tg) in each composition, suggesting the miscibility of the blends, whereas DSC analysis of Extem/Matrimid system indicated immiscibility but compatibility between two polymers. In order to study the specific interactions between Extem and U-Varnish polymers, the Tgs of the polymer blends were estimated by theoretical equations and compared with experimental data. The empirical Tg values formed a concave curve as a function of composition and exhibited a positive deviation from the linearity, indicating the presence of specific interactions between Extem and U-Varnish polymer chains; this was confirmed by FTIR spectra. Interactions between studied polymer systems and four aprotic solvents including N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), Dimethylacetamide (DMAc), Dimethylformamide (DMF) and Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were assessed on the basis of the difference between their solubility parameters. Among the selected solvents, DMAc showed the highest affinity with both blend systems. XRD patterns and rheological behavior of Extem/U-Varnish system revealed that the crystalline nature and viscosity of the blend polymers decreases as the ratio of Extem/U-Varnish increases. As an overall conclusion, Extem and U-Varnish were found to constitute a miscible pair at a molecular level over the entire composition range whereas Extem and Matrimid could not form a miscible blend.