Preparation and characterization of 4,4′-bis(4-aminophenoxy)diphenyl sulfone based fluoropoly(ether-imide)/organo-modified clay nanocomposites

Full Paper: A series of fluoropoly(ether-imide) (6F-PEI), and [6F-PEI/montmorillonite (MMT) clay) nanocomposites films were made by thermal curing of respective formulations containing fluropoly(ether-amic acid) 6F-PEAA), synthesized from 2,2'-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane dianhydride (6FDA) and 4,4'-bis(4-aminophenox)diphenyl sulfone (p-SED), and increasing concentration of p-SED treated montmorillonite clay (modified MMT clay at temperature from RT to 35 degreesC. These films showed excellent solvent resistance as well as very good thermal stability, and increased glass transition (T-g) values with increasing % clay. In addition, these trifluoromethyl groups-containing nanocomposites films showed sharp lowering of coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) by 22%. Furthermore, they exhibited increased long-term thermo-oxidative stability (TOS), with % weight retention in the range of 86 to 92 in isothermal heating at 300 degreesC for 300 h in air, reduced water absorption at 100 RH at 50 degreesC in the range if 0.5 to 1.15%