Polyimide/montmorillonite nanocomposites with photolithographic properties

Polyimide/montmorillonite nanocomposites with photolithographic properties (PSPI/MMT) were prepared by in situ polymerization using an intrinsic photosensitive polyimide (PSPI) based on 4,4'-diamino-3,3'-dimethyldiphenylmethane (MMDA) and benzophenone-3,3',4,4'-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA). XRD, TEM were used to obtain the information on morphological structure of PSPI/MMT nanocomposites. The exfoliated structure was obtained in the MMT content range studied. Satisfactory photolithographic patterns were obtained when the MMT content was below 2 wt.%. Universal tester, TGA, DSC were applied to characterize the mechanical and thermal properties of the nanocomposites. The introduction of MMT led to increase in tensile strength to the PSPI matrix while the elongation at break was not obviously effected. The introduction of MMT also resulted in improved thermal stability, marked decrease in coefficient of thermal expansion, decrease in solvent uptake, slight increase in glass transition temperature and increase in modulus. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.