POLYMER SYNTHESIS AND THERMALLY REARRANGED POLYMRES AS GAS SEPARATION MEMBRANES

• Main Authors: SMITH ZACHARY, RIBEIRO, JR. CLAUDIO P, FREEMAN BENNY D, GUO RUILAN, SANDERS DAVID, MCGRATH JAMES E
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 27.12.2012
• Subjects: CHEMISTRY; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON; MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED OTHERWISE THAN BY REACTIONSONLY INVOLVING UNSATURATED CARBON-TO-CARBON BONDS; METALLURGY; ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP

The present invention includes a polymer formed by the thermal rearrangement of an ortho-functional polyimide synthesized via chemical imidization with permeation properties for gas separation membranes higher than those synthesized via thermal imidization and a method for forming that polymer having tailored transport properties and different chemical resistance. The present invention also includes a polymer formed by the thermal rearrangement of an ortho-functional polyimide in which a portion of the ortho-position functional group is lost during thermal rearrangement to yield a thermally rearranged polymer with higher permeability than would be seen without the ortho-position group. This ortho-position group can be the result of chemical imidization, or the result of a post-imidization modification reaction.