Polyimide/titania (PI/TiO2) nanocomposite films have been successfully fabricated through the in situ formation of TiO2 within a PI matrix via sol–gel method. Poly(amic acid) (PAA), which is the precursor of PI, was successfully synthesized by mixing pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), with equimolar amount of a diamine monomer having a pendent benzoxazole unit and two flexible ether linkages in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent. Tetraethyl orthotitanate [Ti(OEt)4] and acetylacetone were then added to the resulted PAA. After imidization at high temperature, PI/TiO2 hybrid films were formed. The structure and morphology of the hybrid nanocomposites with different titania contents (0 wt%, 5 wt%, 10 wt%, and 15 wt%) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that the TiO2 nanoparticles were homogeneously dispersed in the hybrid films. The thermogravimetric analysis of nanocomposites confirms the improvement in the thermal stability with the increase in the percentage of titania nanoparticle. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the nanoparticles with an average diameter of 25–40 nm were dispersed in the polymer matrix. 相似文献
Summary: In this study high‐refractive‐index polyimide/titania hybrid optical thin films were successfully prepared using a sol‐gel process combined with spin coating and multistep baking. The hybrid thin films were prepared from a soluble polyimide, a coupling agent, and a titania precursor. Transparent hybrid thin films can be obtained at TiO2 content as high as 40 wt.‐%. The FE‐SEM results suggest that the TiO2 particles in the hybrid thin films have diameters in the nanometer range. The thermal decomposition temperatures of the prepared hybrid materials are above those of the respective polyimide except for the highest TiO2 content hybrids. The refractive indices at 633 nm of the prepared hybrid thin films increase linearly from 1.66 to 1.82 with increasing TiO2 content. The excellent optical transparency, thermal stability, and tunable refractive index provide the potentials of the polyimide/titania hybrid thin films in optical applications.
