Structural study on rodlike aromatic polyimides derived by solid-state thermal and chemical imidization of poly(amic n-dodecyl ester)

Para-linked aromatic poly(amic n-dodecyl ester) (PA-12), in which long n-alkyl side chains are attached on rodlike aromatic polyamide, was prepared by polycondensation of 2,5-bis(1-dodecyloxycarbonyl)terephthaloyl chloride and 1,4-diaminobenzene. In as-cast PA-12 film, formation of layered structure with alternating main-chain-segregated and side-chain-segregated layers is suggested by X-ray diffraction measurement. PA-12 is a precursor of rodlike aromatic polyimide, poly(1,4-phenylene pyromellitimide) (PPPI). Solid-state thermal imidization and base-catalyzed chemical imidization of PA-12 film has been investigated. Although the layered structure of PA-12 was destroyed during the imidization reaction, the obtained PPPI exhibited lower density than densely packed PPPI. This result may indicate that the side chain-segregated domain was transformed to a cavity surrounded by PPPI after the imidization reaction. Chemical imidization in pyridine/toluene mixture and subsequent heating at 200 °C was the optimum condition to obtain low density PPPI.