Studies on chain extension of a novel bio‐based engineering elastomer using 4,4‐diphenyl methane diisocyanate as a chain extender

A novel hydroxyl‐terminated bio‐based engineering elastomer (BEE) was synthesized from four bio‐based monomers by adding excess diol. Then the BEE was chain extended in Haake torque rheometer with 4,4‐diphenyl methane diisocyanate (MDI) as chain extender. The molar ratio of NCO/OH, reaction temperature and reaction time of the chain‐extension reaction were studied, and the optimum condition was determined by the gel permeation chromatography (GPC), soxhlet extraction, and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results. After chain extension, (i) the number‐average molecular weight of BEE became about 3.5 times of the original BEE, (ii) the thermal stability was improved and the crystallization rate was lower, (iii) and the mechanical properties were significantly improved with nano‐SiO₂ as reinforcing filler. The chain‐extended BEE would have potential wide applications in engineering field. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40756.     

The chain extension of anionic prepolymers in the preparation of aqueous poly(urethane–urea) dispersions

Anionic polyurethane prepolymers end‐capped with isocyanate groups were dispersed and chain‐extended in aqueous media using three different extension agents: hydrazine, 1,2‐ethylene diamine (EDA) and 1,2‐propylene diamine (PDA). Two types of prepolymer were used. The first was prepared from isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), α,α‐dimethylol propionic acid (DMPA) and poly(propylene oxide) diol (PPO) and the second from α,α,α′,α′‐tetramethyl‐1,3‐xylylene diisocyanate (m‐TMXDI), poly(caprolactone) diol (PCL) and DMPA. The colloidal particles which formed in the dispersion process and the constituent poly(urethane–urea) chains were characterised by a combination of dynamic and static light scattering, gel permeation chromatography and FTIR spectroscopy. Using EDA as the extender, a study was made of how the degree of extension depended on the molar ratio of amine to isocyanate groups, [NH₂]/[NCO] (= R_{A, I}). It was found that using a stoichiometric balance of isocyanate and amine groups did not lead to high degree of extension, and better chain extension was obtained at lower R_{A, I} values. In a comparative study using stoichiometric balances of isocyanate and amine groups, the degrees of extension obtained using PDA and EDA were approximately the same, while hydrazine was the least effective. Force–extension studies were carried out on samples prepared from films cast from the aqueous poly(urethane–urea) dispersions in order to assess the influence of chain‐extender type and stoichiometry on bulk properties; values of Young's modulus, tensile strength and maximum extension are reported. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Properties of Waterborne Polyurethane Adhesives: Effect of Chain Extender and Polyol Content

A series of waterborne polyurethane (WBPU) adhesives were prepared with various ratios of polyol, poly(tetramethylene oxide glycol) (PTMG), and chain extender, ethylene diamine (EDA), at a fixed content of diisocyanate, 4,4-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate (H₁₂MDI) and hydrophilic agent, 2,2-dimethylol propionic acid (DMPA). WBPU adhesives were characterized by IR and ¹H-NMR spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). It was found that the extent of hydrogen bonds between hard–hard segment (i.e., hydrogen bonds between the NH and carbonyl groups) increased with increasing chain extender content (decreasing polyol content). Moreover, the disordered hydrogen bond of carbonyl group (hydrogen bond of urethane groups in the interfacial region) increased with increasing chain extender content (decreasing polyol content). The cyclic urea and allophanate group, which are attributed to the side reaction and cross-linking reaction, respectively, were found above a molar ratio 0.17 of chain extender to diisocyanate. The adhesive strength was maximum with 0.95 wt% and 63.10 wt% chain extender and soft segment (PTMG), respectively (H2 sample) at room temperature for the WBPU adhesive. However, with increasing application temperature the adhesive strength decreased for all samples.     

Modification and compatibility of epoxy resin with hydroxyl-terminated or amine-terminated polyurethanes

Phenolic hydroxyl-terminated (HTPU) and aromatic amine-terminated (ATPU) PU modifiers were prepared by reacting two different macroglycols (PTMG, polytetramethylene glycol, M_n = 2000, and PBA, Polybutylene adpate, M_n = 2000) with 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), then further coupling with two different coupling agents, bisphenol A or 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS). These four types of PU prepolymers were used to modify the epoxy resin with 4,4′-diamino-diphenyl sulfone as a curing agent. From the experimental results, it was shown that the values of fracture energy, G_IC, for PU-modified epoxy were dependent on the macroglycols and the coupling agents. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the ether type (PTMG) of PU-modified epoxy showed the presence of an aggregated separated phase, which varied between 0.5 μm and 4 μm in the ATPU (PTMG) and between 1 μm and 1.5 μm in HTPU (PTMG) modified system. On the contrary, the ester type (PBA) PU-modified epoxy resin showed a homogeneous morphology and consequently a much smaller effect on toughening for its good compatibility with the epoxy network. In addition, it was found that the hydroxyl-terminated bisphenol A as a coupling agent improved fracture toughness more than the amine-terminated DDS because of effective molecular weight buildup by a chain extension reaction. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of modified epoxy resin as measured by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was lower in PTMG-based PU than in a PBA-based PU series with the same weight of modifier.     

Addition polyimides. IV. Effect of structure on thermal characteristics

Chain extension reaction of bis(m-maleimido phenyl) methyl phosphine oxide (BP) with 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane (BP–M), 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl ether (BP–E), 3,3′- and 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl sulfone (BP–DDS_m and (BP-DDS_m respectively), tris (m-aminophenyl) phosphine oxide (BP–TAP), and 9,9-bis(p-aminophenyl) fluorene (BP–BAF) was carried out by refluxing 1:0.3 molar solution of BP:diamine. The melting temperature and exothermic peak associated with curing of BP decreased by such chain extension. The thermogravimetric analysis indicated more than 60% residual weight at 800°C in nitrogen atmosphere in BP–DDS_m, BP–DDS_p, and BP–TAP resins. These resins can be processed at low temperature and can be used for fabrication of composites with improved properties.     

A fully bio-based waterborne polyurethane dispersion from vegetable oils: From synthesis of precursors by thiol-ene reaction to study of final material

A new linear saturated terminal diisocyanate was synthesized from castor oil-derived undecylenic acid by thiol-ene coupling (TEC) and Curtius rearrangement. The structure of the diisocyanate was carefully examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and ¹³C NMR. This diisocyanate was used as a starting material for the preparation of a fully bio-based waterborne polyurethane dispersion (BPUD) by reacting with castor oil and castor oil-based carboxylic acid-type hydrophilic chain extender, which was prepared from castor oil by using 3-mercaptopropionic acid via TEC. The thermal/mechanical properties of the formed BPUD film were characterized via differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, tensile test, hardness test, and water resistance test. The fatty acid-derived diisocyanate and the castor oil-based hydrophilic chain extender were used to produce BPUD with favorable properties.     

不同二胺类后扩链剂对水性聚氨酯性能的影响

以异佛尔酮二异氰酸酯、聚四氢呋喃醚、聚碳酸己二醇酯和二羟甲基丙酸等为主要原料合成了水性聚氨酯(WPU),研究了乙二胺、二乙烯三胺和异佛尔酮二胺分别作为后扩链剂对乳液稳定性和成膜物性的影响。结果表明,以异佛尔酮二胺后扩链制备的WPU综合性能较好;随着异佛尔酮二胺用量的增加,WPU乳液稳定性提高,胶膜的耐水和耐溶剂性能提高,力学性能改善,但扩链比例过高,不利于WPU综合性能的改善,在本实验条件下,适宜的扩链比例为75%。     

Photostability of polyetherurethaneureas

Polyetherurethaneureas (PEUUs) were synthesised from polyethylene-glycols (PEGs) of molecular weight 400, 600 and 1000, 4,4′-diphenylmethanediisocyanate (MDI) and aliphatic diamine chain extenders, 1,3-propanediamine (PDA) and 1,6-hexanediamine (HDA). Polymer films were irradiated with 365 nm light at 293 K and the effects of polyether soft segment length and urea hard segment on photo-oxidative stability were studied by following the variation in weight-average molecular weight (M _w), gel formation and stress-strain properties. Changes in ultraviolet and infrared spectroscopy were monitored on photo-oxidation and hydroperoxide content determined. The soft segment length was increased by increasing the molecular weight of PEG from 400 to 1000 and hard segment structure was changed by variation of diamine. It was noted that the structure of urea and polyether soft segment length plays an important role in photostability of PEUUs. PDA chain extended PEUUs were more stable than HDA chain extended PEUUs.     

Synthesis of a novel benzoxazine‐containing benzoxazole structure and its high performance thermoset

A novel benzoxazine containing benzoxazole structures (Boz‐BOA) was synthesized and its thermoset [P(Boz‐BOA)] was prepared. For comparison, another benzoxazine‐based 4,4′‐diamine diphenyl methane (Boz‐MDA) was also synthesized using a simplified procedure. The structure of Boz‐BOA and Boz‐MDA was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and ¹H‐NMR. Using FTIR and differential scanning calorimetric scans method, the curing behavior of Boz‐BOA was probed, and the structure of P(Boz‐BOA) was addressed, which was similar to that of P(Boz‐MDA). Data of dynamic mechanical analysis showed that P(Boz‐BOA) exhibited a better modulus retention at high temperature than P(Boz‐MDA), which was attributed to benzoxazole structure restricting the mobility of chains, even at high temperature. P(Boz‐BOA) also exhibited high glass transition temperature (T_g), excellent thermal stability, and low coefficient of thermal expansion value at wide temperature range. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Synthesis of triazole ring‐containing pentol chain extender and its effect on the properties of hyperbranched polyurethane‐urea coatings

This article describes the synthesis and property evaluation of different hyperbranched polyurethane‐urea (HBPUU) coatings based on a newly synthesized triazole ring‐based pentol chain extender. For this initially, the chain extender was synthesized using acetylene azide click reaction and the structure of the intermediate compounds were confirmed by ¹H‐, ¹³C‐NMR, FTIR, and ESI‐mass spectrometry. In the further steps, the required HBPUU coatings were prepared by a systematic three‐step reaction process. In the first step, a isocyanate terminated prepolymer resin was synthesized at NCO/OH ratio of 1.2 : 1, while the second and third step involves the partially chain extension followed by moisture curing. The excess NCO content in the prepolymer was calculated by standard dibutylamine titration method and partially (10, 20, 30, 50, and 70% of the excess NCO content) chain extended with the pentol chain extender and remaining was moisture cured. The structure property relation of different HBPUU coating films were analyzed by FTIR peak deconvulation technique using Gaussian curve fitting procedure while, their viscoelastic and thermo‐mechanical properties were measured by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, thermo gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetric, and universal testing machine instruments. These results showed that thermal stability, glass transition temperature (T_g), elongation at break increases but the storage and tensile modulus decreases with increasing the percent loading of the triazole chain extender. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Synthesis and enzymatic degradation of high molecular weight aliphatic polyesters

The aliphatic polyesters with high molecular weight have been prepared according to two methods. First is the synthesis of the polyesters by polycondensation of dimethyl succinate (DMS) with 1,4‐butanediol (BD) using various metal alkoxides as a catalyst. Among the metal alkoxides used, titanium tetraisopropoxide [Ti(OiPr)₄] gave the best results (highest molecular weight and yield). Thus, we have prepared aliphatic polyesters using a variety combinations of diesters [MeOOC—(CH₂)_x—COOMe, x = 2–8] with BD by the catalysis of Ti(OiPr)₄. The polyesters with high number‐average molecular weight (M_n > 35,000), except dimethyl adipate (DMA, x = 4)/BD polyester (M_n = 26,900), were obtained in high yield. The melting temperatures (T_m) of polyesters were relatively low (43.4–66.8°C) except that (115.6°C) of the DMS/BD polyester. Second is the synthesis of high molecular weight polyesters by chain extension reaction of lower molecular weight (M_n = 15,900–26,000) polyesters using hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) as a chain extender. The M_n values of chain‐extended polyesters consequently increased more than two times (M_n = 34,700–56,000). The thermal properties of polyesters hardly changed before and after chain extension. Enzymatic degradations of the polyesters were performed using three different enzymes (cholesterol esterase, lipase B, and Rhizopus delemar lipase) before chain extension. The enzymatic degradability varied depending on both thermal properties of polyesters [melting temperature and heat of fusion (crystallinity)] and the substrate specificity of enzymes, but it was the following order: cholesterol esterase > lipase B > R. delemar lipase. The ¹H‐NMR spectrum of water‐soluble degraded products of the polyester indicated that the polyester was degraded into a condensation product of diol with diester in a monomer form. The enzymatic degradation of chain extended polyesters was slightly smaller than that before chain extension, but proceeded steadily. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 80: 340–347, 2001     

Structure and viscoelastic properties of segmented polyurethane blends

Structure and viscoelastic properties of segmented polyurethanurea (SPU) blends were investigated. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of poly(tetramethylene glycohol) (PTMG) in a soft-segment block of the component SPU increased with decreasing molecular weight of PTMG. The blend samples showed two T_gs of PTMG in the temperature dispersions of the loss modulus (E″) and loss tangent (tan δ). The value of E′ in the leathery region for the blend specimens was trongly affected by the morphology. The blends were considered to have a morphology where PTMG differing in molecular weight was localized. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Comparison of properties of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers with two different soft segments

Two series of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers [poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) based PP samples and poly(oxytetramethylene)glycol (PTMG) based PT samples] were synthesized from isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI)/1,4-butanediol (BD)/PPG and IPDI/BD/PTMG. The IPDI/BD based hard segments contents of polyurethane prepared in this study were 40–73 wt %. These polyurethane elastomers had a constant soft segment molecular weight (average M_n, 2000) but a variable hard segment block length (n, 3.5–17.5; average M_n, 1318–5544). Studies were made on the effects of the hard segment content on the dynamic mechanical thermal properties and elastic behaviors of polyurethane elastomers. These properties of PPG based PP and PTMG based PT samples were compared. As the hard segment contents of PP and PT samples increased, dynamic tensile modulus and α-type glass transition temperature (T_g) increased; however, the β-type T_g decreased. The permanent set (%) increased with increasing hard segment content and successive maximum elongation. The permanent set of the PT sample was lower than that of the PP sample at the same hard segment content. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 1349–1355, 1998     

Preparation and properties of 4, 4′‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate blocking modified poly(propylene carbonate)

Poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) is inferior in thermal stability and liable to incur thermal degradation, especially in the existence of residual bimetal catalyst. In this article, PPC containing residual catalyst was end‐capped with 4, 4′‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) through melt compounding. The blends were characterized by infrared spectra, melt flow index (MFI), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), gel content measurement, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and tensile test. The effect of MDI on thermal stability, molecular weight, and tensile properties of PPC was studied. Thermal degradation kinetics of neat PPC and PPC+MDI blending samples was discussed with Friedman method. MFI, GPC, and gel content measurements showed that mainly end‐capping reaction was carried out on PPC chains when 0.1% of MDI was added. However, as the amount of MDI exceeded to 0.3%, end‐capping, chain‐extension, and crosslinking reactions were synchronously carried out on PPC. Results showed that the end‐capping, chain‐extension, and crosslinking reaction occurring between PPC and MDI could effectively inhibit the unzipping degradation even when the residual catalyst was not removed thoroughly. When the content of MDI reached 1.0%, the initial degradation temperatures (T_‐5%) increased from 176.26°C for neat PPC to 259.56°C. As a result, the processing temperature range and processing time were largely extended, and the heat resistance of PPC was improved remarkably. Meanwhile, the tensile property of the modified PPC was enhanced obviously. It may be due to the fact that the molecular weight and gel content of PPC were increased with the increasing amount of MDI. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Thermal stability of chemically crosslinked moisture‐cured polyurethane coatings

Polyurethane prepolymers are widely used in reactive hot melt adhesives and moisture‐cured coatings. The segmented moisture‐cured formulations, based on polytetramethylene glycol (PTMG‐1000)/trimethylol propane (TMP)/isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and PTMG/TMP/toluene diisocyanate (TDI), were prepared with NCO/OH ratio of 1.6 : 1.0. The excess isocyanate groups of the prepolymers were chain extended in the ratio of 2 : 1 (NCO/OH) with different aliphatic diols and 4 : 1 with different aromatic diamines. The surplus isocyanate groups of the formulations were completely reacted with atmospheric moisture, and the thermal stability of the postcured materials obtained as cast films were evaluated by thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. It was observed that initial degradation temperatures were above 270°C, with two‐ or three‐step degradation profiles. The degradation parameters were evaluated using the Broido and Coats–Redfern methods. The thermal resistance of moisture‐cured formulations using diisocyanates with the cycloaliphatic structures (IPDI) and the aromatic TDI, at the same NCO/OH ratio (1.6), and TMP content were compared from the isothermal TG experiments at different temperatures and dynamic TG experiments at different heating rates in nitrogen and oxygen environments. The observation suggests that polyurethane‐containing sulfone groups and straight‐chain diol chain extenders were more stable. It was also observed that at lower temperature polyurethane, prepared from aliphatic diisocyanates (IPDI), was more stable than the aromatic diisocyanate (TDI) containing polyurethanes. At high temperature, the stability order follows the reverse trend. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 95: 1509–1518, 2005     

Curing kinetics and properties of epoxy resin-fluorenyl diamine systems

Diglycidyl ether of bisphenol fluorene (DGEBF), 9,9-bis-(4-aminophenyl)-fluorene (BPF) and 9,9-bis-(3-methyl-4-aminophenyl)-fluorene (BMAPF) were synthesized to introduce more aromatic structures into the epoxy systems, and their chemical structures were characterized with FTIR, NMR and MS analyses. The curing kinetics of fluorenyl diamines with different epoxy resins including DGEBF, cycloaliphatic epoxy resin (TDE-85) and diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) was investigated using non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and determined by Kissinger, Ozawa and Crane methods. The thermal properties of obtained polymers were evaluated with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results show that the values of activation energy (E_a) are strongly dependent on the structures of epoxy resin and curing agent. The curing reactivity of epoxy system is restrained by the introduction of rigid fluorene into chain backbone and flexible methyl into side groups. The cured DGEBF/fluorenyl diamine systems exhibit remarkably higher glass transition temperature, better thermal stability and lower moisture absorption compared to those of DGEBA/fluorenyl diamine systems, and display approximate heat resistance and much better moisture resistance relative to those of TDE-85/fluorenyl diamine systems.     

Preparation and Properties of Soluble,Thermally Stable Poly(Silyl ether amide)s and Related Silica Nanocomposites

Soluble poly(silyl ether amide)s and related nanocomposites with improved thermally stability was prepared. For this, a diamine was prepared through reaction of para-aminophenol with dichlorodiphenylsilane. Structure of diamine was confirmed with conventional spectroscopic methods. Poly(silyl ether amide)s was synthesized through polycondensation of diamine with different diacid chlorides. Properties of poly(silyl ether amide)s comprising thermal behavior, thermal stability, solubility, solution viscosity, and morphology were studied. Polymers showed high thermal stability and good solubility in organic solvents due to their unique structures. Related nanocomposites with different contents of silica nanoparticles (10–40?wt%) were prepared and their properties compared with pristine polyamides.     

Preparation and properties of self-crosslinkable polyurethane/silane hybrid emulsion

Self-crosslinkable polyurethane emulsion containing active carbonyl group was obtained using dihydroxyketon N-[(1,1-dimethyl-2-acetyl)ethyl]-β-dihydroxyethylamino propanamide(DDP) and 1,4-butanediol as chain extenders, isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), polyether polyol (PTMG1000), dimethylol propionic acid (DMPA) and trimethylol propane (TMP) as main materials, γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) as end capping agent. Then adipic dihydrazide was added into the emulsion. The structure and composition of DDP and the films were confirmed by means of FTIR and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR) spectrometer, the test results indicated that the reaction between ketone carbonyl and hydrazine has happened during the film curing. The effects of n(NH₂NH-)/n(C=O) and DDP content on the properties of the films were studied. The results show that water absorption of the films decreases from 39.3% to 18.9%, crosslinking degree increases from 51.5% to 90.2%, tensile strength increases from 20.1 MPa to 28.3 MPa and pencil hardness is 2H when the DDP content increases from 0% to 6.13%. TGA analysis indicates that the Ketone-Hydrazide crosslinking structure can improve thermal stability of the films.     

Alkali reduction and reactive dye dyeing of T/N nonwoven fabrics dipped into silicon‐containing,water‐borne polyurethane

Two series of anionic water‐borne polyurethanes with alkali resistance and covalent bonds of a reactive dye were synthesized with different molar ratios of poly(tetramethylene glycol) (PTMG). They were classified with respect to PTMG 1000 and PTMG 2000. The fiber blends of polyester/nylon nonwoven fabrics were dipped into silicon‐containing, water‐borne polyurethane and squeezed to an 80% pickup ratio. Finally, the manmade leather was treated with alkali reduction and dyed with a reactive dye. The alkali reduction and the thermal, mechanical, and dyeing properties of the manmade leather were studied. For alkali reduction, different ratios of NaOH and Na₂CO₃ concentrations were used. Na₂CO₃ was used because of its better spreading and buffering properties. The softness and breaking load were measured and related to the weight reduction. For the dyeing properties, a reactive dye with vinyl sulfone groups was found to bond with the OH group of water‐borne polyurethane by covalent bonding. On the basis of alkali reduction, a mixture of NaOH and Na₂CO₃ with a concentration ratio of 0.1N/0.2N could lead to better softness and alkali reduction of leather. For the mechanical properties, leather of the PTMG 1000 series showed a higher breaking load than leather of the PTMG 2000 series. However, less elongation in the PTMG 1000 series resulted. Differential scanning calorimetry showed an endothermic peak at 50–100°C. This indicated that the glass‐transition temperature of the hard segment decreased with an increasing amount of the soft segment in leather; meanwhile, both the glass‐transition temperature of the soft segment and the melting temperature of the hard segment also decreased as the content of the soft segment increased. For the dyeing properties, the reactive blue dye could reach up to 96.1% dye uptake in the polyurethane part of the leather. Moreover, the washing fastness could be graded as high as 4–5, and the light resistance was also graded to 4–5, in the dyed leather. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 96: 2324–2335, 2005     

Partially aromatic polyamides based on tetraphenylthiophene diamine: Synthesis and characterization

Tetraphenylthiophene diamine (TPTDA) was prepared through a modified three‐step route to achieve an improved overall yield. TPTDA reacted with succinic, adipic, suberic, sebasic, and fumaric acids via the Yamazaki phosphorylation method to yield novel partially aromatic polyamides (TPT series). A counterpart polyamide series based on p‐phenylene diamine (Ph series) was also synthesized under the same conditions. All of the polymers were characterized by means of spectrochemical (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹H‐nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and ¹³C‐NMR) and thermal (differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric) methods of analysis. Solubility of TPT polyamides was clearly improved due to the presence of the bulky aromatic diamine as well as flexible CH₂—CH₂ segments. The highly phenylated thiophene diamine moiety was recognized to improve thermal stability of the TPT polyamides in comparison with Ph polyamides (integral procedural decomposition temperature (IPDT) 480–517°C against 454–485°C). A favorable balance was recognized in regard to solubility, thermostability, and melting temperature in the TPT polyamides, especially TPT4 and TPT6. Therefore, they may be considered good candidates for processable polymers. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 77: 1144–1153, 2000