Synthesis, characterization, wettability study and thermal behaviour of aromatic polyimides containing tetraphenylthiophene-quinoxaline unit.

A new series of aromatic polyimides were synthesised by solution polycondensation of diamine monomer with different dianhydrides via the conventional two-step method. On comparison with tetraphenyl components related previous reports, synthesized polyimides containing heterocyclic tetraphenylthiophene-quinoxaline unit showed outstanding thermal properties. Synthesized polyimides showed high glass transition temperatures between 244–274°C. The structure-property correlations among these polyimides were also studied. Also, these polyimides were displayed excellent hydrophilicity except PI-V with the contact angles in the range of 50.4–93.6°. Such hydrophilic polyimide films can be used as polymer electrolytes in ion conduction applications and batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]