Polyether imides

Polyether Imides. Polyether imides (PEIs) are amorphous, high performance thermoplastic polymers that have been in use since 1982. The first commercial polyether imides were the Ultem series developed by the General Electric Co. The first, Ultem 1000 [61128-24-3] is prepared from phthahc anhydride, bisphenol A, and meta-phenylenediamine and has the following stmcture ... 

Closely related to the polyamides are the polyimides and derivatives such as polyamide-imides and polyether-imides. These are discussed in Sections 18.13 and 18.14. 

The successful introduction of the polyimides stimulated attempts to produce somewhat more tractable materials without too serious a loss of heat resistance. This led to the availability of a polyamide-imides, polyester-imides and the polybismaleinimides, and in 1982 the polyether-imides. 

The polyether imides show much better hydrolytic stability with little change in tensile strength after exposure to water at 100°C for 1 year. These materials also show exceptional resistance to mineral acids, and are unharmed by most hydrocarbons including gasoline (petrol) and oils. 

Thermoplastics for aircraft interiors have been evaluated by this technique (10b) in accordance with the FAA specification (peak rate of heat release of 65 kilowatts per meter squared (Kw/m 2) or less). In these tests (10b) Polyether sulfone demonstrated marginal compliance. For Polyether imide (PHI) and PEI/Polydimethyl siloxane copolymers peak heat-release rates were well below the specified value. The overall trend suggested a possible correlation of peak heat release values with aromatic carbon content in the polymers evaluated. 

Among these methods, incorporation of thermoplastics has been highlighted as a new approach to enhance the toughness of thermosets without significantly lowering the desirable properties. Rigid thermoplastics with high Tg, such as polyethersulfone [11-16], polyether-imide [17-19], and polysulfone [20-23], were frequently used in this approach. 

Different TPs have been used to modify thermosets, such as poly(ether sulfone) (PES), polysulfone (PSF), poly(ether ketone) (PEK), polyether imide (PEI), poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO), linear polyimides, polyhydan-toin, etc. (Stenzenberger et al., 1988 Pascal et al., 1990, 1995 Pascault and Williams, 2000). 

Polyimide (PI) caps all other polymers in its temperature range of use (-200 to 260 °C in air short-time even up to 500 °C). Because of its high price, it is used in special cases only, such as space vehicles, nuclear reactors and some electronic parts. Newer developments, related to polyimide, are the polyether imides (e.g. Ultem ), polyester imides and polyamide imides (e.g. Torlon ), all with very good mechanical, thermal and electrical properties and self-extinguishing. 

Recently much effort has been made to induce liquid crystallinity in polyimides. Kricheldorf et al., Chen et al., and Sato et al. have suggested that an aromatic im-ide ring may be an excellent mesogen through their studies on thermotropic liquid-crystalline polyimide-esters [41-54] and polyimide-carbonates [55, 56]. Some thermotropic properties of aromatic polyether-imides have also been reported by Asanuma et al. [57]. 

EP 323142 (European) 1989 Ternary polyether ketone blend wire insulations Pirelli General PLC, UK CK Alesbury, RJ Murphy Formulation shows excellent stress craze resistance, flexibility and flame resistance Blends of polyarylene ether ketones, polyether imides and polyfimide siloxanes) were coated onto wire for solvent resistance, O index and abrasion resistance. Blends without siloxane-imide copolymer did not meet these properties... 

In addition to the polybenzimidazole blends with imide-siloxanes, it was also demonstrated that other different polyether imide-siloxane-segmented copolymers of variable composition could be used to modify semi-crystalline polyether ketones (PEEK) by presumably an analogous mechanism. The mechanical properties and transition temperatures of those systems have been reported [124,125], and would appear to be additional suitable candidates for the harsh outer space environment (see Table 4 and Fig. 21). 

A mixture of a BMI (Compimide 796) with 4,4 -bis(orf/zo-propenylphe-noxy)benzophenone (TM 23) was blended in solution with Udel 700 (polysul-fone from Union Carbide), Ultem 100 (General Electric polyether imide), and PH 10 (Bayer polyhydantoin) (Fig. 35). The thermoplastics were introduced at various concentrations up to 33%. A phase segregation did not appear with PH 10, but two phases were observed with Ultem. With both semi-IPNs the observed Glc were found to be four- to fivefold the Glc of the neat BMI [113]. 

Boric acid in conjunction with APP was reported in epoxy intumescent coating.30-31 Boric acid and its derivatives were used in phenolics to impart thermal stability and tire retardancy. For example, Nisshin steel claims the use of boric acid and aluminum trihydroxide (ATH) in phenolics for sandwich panel.32 It was also reported that the small amounts of boric acid (around 0.25% by weight) in polyether imide (PEI) and glass-filled and PEI can reduce peak HRR by almost 50% in the OSU Heat Release test for the aircraft industry.33 In applications where high modulus and high strengths are needed, boric acid can be added without the softening effects of other additives such as siloxanes. 

Various kinds of engineering thermoplastics such as polyether sulfone, polyether imide, polyaryl ether ketone, and polyphenylene oxide have been studied as toughening agents for... 

Kinetics of Phase Segregation in Thermotropic Liquid-Crystalline Copolyester and Polyether Imide Blends... 

In this paper, we continue our study on the kinetic aspects of thermally induced phase segregation in PET-PHB/polyether imide... 

Copolyester of p-hydroxybenzoic acid with ethylene terephthalate (PHB-PET, 60/40) was supplied by Tennessee Eastman Kodak Co., whereas polyether imide (PEI) was provided by General Electric. Co. (Ultem 1000). These polymers were dissolved together in a mixed solvent of phenol and tetrachloroethane in the ratio of 60/40 by weight at 80°C for about a week. The polymer concentration of the solution was 2 wt7.. Various PHB-PET/PEI films were cast on glass slides at ambient temperature, then dried in a vacuum oven at 60°C for two weeks. Thicker films were prepared in Petri dishes for differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) studies. 

The processing properties are improved when polylmides are produced from meta substituted diamines.(— A new amorphous polyether-imide (Ultem) with a high heat deflection temperature has been introduced by the General Electric Co. 

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