Thermal conversion to polyimide

With regard to thermal conversion to polyimide, we evaluated the suitable reaction conditions for thermal conversion of the photo-crosslinked patterns into completely polyimide patterns and found, that the crosslinked bridges are split off and depolymerization takes place. More than 95 % of the volatile product is the monomer hydroxyethylmethacrylate. 

Using a Rheometrics mechanical spectrometer and powdered polymer samples, the authors compared the rheological behaviour of two polymers with similar chemical compositions but different structures. The rheological profiles of polymers 21 and 22 were determined between 140 and 400°C by increasing the temperature at 10°C min from 140 to 190°C and from 300 to 400°C. In the predominant region of isoimide-imide conversion (190-300°C), the temperatme was raised by 2 or 5°C increments, the dynamic viscosity rj being measured at each temperature step. At 190°C, the viscosity of poly(isoimide) 21 was approximately 5 X 10 Pas and decreased to a minimum value of 10 Pas at 243°C as the polymer softened and melted. Thermal conversion to polyimide 22 concurrently... 

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