Novel in situ-foaming materials derived from a naphthalene-based poly(arylene ether ketone) containing thermally labile groups

• Published in: Polymer chemistry Vol. 6; no. 28; pp. 5125 - 5132
• Main Authors: Qi, Duo, Zhao, Chengji, Zhang, Liyuan, Li, Xuefeng, Li, Guibin, Na, Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Ethers; Foaming; Foaming agents; Ketones; Membranes; Naphthalene; Scanning electron microscopy; Thermal properties
• ISSN: 1759-9954; 1759-9962
• DOI: 10.1039/c5py00768b

A novel in situ -foaming material was successfully prepared by a naphthalene-based hydroxyl-containing poly(arylene ether ketone) (PAEK) modified with thermally labile tert -butyloxycarbonyl which can decompose and in situ generate CO 2 and isobutene as the foaming agents. The structure and thermal properties of the polymers were characterized by using 1 H NMR spectra and thermogravimetry coupled time-resolved mass spectrogram (TG/MS). The resulting polymers exhibited relatively high T g because of the existence of a rigid naphthalene moiety. Then closed microcellular porous membranes with a wide range of expansion ratio (ER) were obtained by a simple thermal treatment from 140 °C to 280 °C for 60 seconds, without using any other physical or chemical foaming agents. The highest ER was 53.98%. This method has never been reported before on high-performance poly(aryl ether) materials. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship between the foaming temperature and the morphology of membranes in detail by using density measurement and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A novel in situ -foaming material was prepared from a naphthalene-based poly(arylene ether ketone) by grafting with thermally-labile tert -butyloxycarbonyl which can decompose and in situ generate gases.