Effect of DAPBO segment on the structure and performance enhancement of powder foamed BTDA-ODA polyimide

Achieving excellent thermal stability, good mechanical strength, and low-density in one product, is a big challenge in the design and synthesis of polyimide (PI) foams. We selected a rigid diamine monomer, 2-(4-aminophenyl)-5-aminobenzoxazole (DAPBO) to partially replace 4,4′-oxydianiline (ODA) in BTDA-ODA system, and studied the effect on properties of foamed PI products. With various molar ratio between DABPO and ODA (0:5, 1:4, 2:3, 3:2, 4:1, 5:0), the diamine(s) polymerized with 3,3′,4,4′-benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA) and produced six PI precursors (PAE-0 ~ PAE-5). After foaming and thermal imidization, corresponding PI foams (PI-0 ~ PI-5) prepared. Among them, PI-3 has a glass transition temperature of 386°C, which is 95°C higher than PI-0, and its compressive strength reaches 1.32 MPa. Moreover, PI-3 has a uniform cell structure with an average pore size of ~200 μm. The analysis results show that PI-3 is in a transition state from amorphous to partial crystalline, maintaining a balance between flexibility and rigidity. The addition of DABPO not only increases the rigidity of polymer molecular segments, but also introduces N and O atoms that can form intermolecular hydrogen bonds between molecules, which increases the packing density and arrangement regularity of polymer molecules.