Thermal imidization of the precursor of a liquid crystalline polyimide

Abstract

Imidization of the precursor of a liquid crystalline polyimide was investigated using modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) coupled to FTIR (TG-IR). The FTIR study revealed that the rate and degree of imidization are functions of curing temperature and time. Imidization proceeds in two stages under isothermal condition. The initial weight loss up to 250 °C as observed from TGA was due to thermal cyclization, i.e., imidization process. The XPS analysis shows that the poly(amic acid) has two nitrogen 1s species at 400.3 and 399.2 eV possibly due to the isomerism of the dianhydride carbonyl, while liquid crystalline polyimide shows only a single nitrogen 1s species at 400.8 eV due to imide species.