Polyimides compared with experimental

The chapter is divided into the following sections. First, a brief introduction to group contribution methods is given with a major emphasis on the concept and limitations of this technique. An introduction to the use of chemical graph theory and how it applies to polymers and in particular to the dielectric constant is given next. Application of the method to a number of polyimides is then demonstrated and predictions are compared to experimental results. 

The experimental procedures and x-ray photoemission results for the preparation of ultrathin (d = 1.1 nm) polyimide films on polycrystalline silver by co-condensation of PMDA and ODA are described elsewhere [5]. In that work our XPS results suggested that the polyimide chains bond to the silver surface via a carboxylate type bonding. This conclusion was derived from an analysis of the results obtained for the interaction of the monomers (PMDA and ODA) and of the resulting ultra-thin polyimide film. Due to the relatively larger thickness of the polyamic acid films as compared to the monomer adsorbate phases and the polyimide film, no conclusions were possible about the reaction of the polyamic acid with the silver substrate. 

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