Biobased
polymers have received extensive research attention in
flexible and renewable electronics to meet the concept of environmental
sustainability. In this study, we develop a series of new polyimides
(PIs) from biosources to serve as the substrate and dielectrics for
a flexible organic field-effect transistor (OFET). The bioderived
diamine, (3R,6S)-hexahydrofuro[3,2-b]furan-3,6-diyl bis(4-aminobenzoate) (ISBA), synthesized
from isosorbide (ISB), was reacted with three dianhydrides of pyromellitic
dianhydride (PMDA), 3,3′,4,4′-biphenyl-tetracarboxylic
dianhydride (BPDA), and cyclobutane-1,2,3,4-tetracarboxylic dianhydride
(CBDA) to obtain PIs and copolyimides (Co-PIs) with a high biomass
content up to 53%. These bioderived PIs possessed high T
d’s over 400 °C and T
g’s over 250 °C. Furthermore, the CBDA-based and
PMDA-based PIs exhibited CTE values below 50 ppm
K–1 due to the rigid heterocyclic ISB unit and the
structural linearity of the CBDA and PMDA moieties in the polymer
backbone. High transparency and low coloration were also observed
in the biobased PIs. Finally, highly thermal-resistant PI(ISBA-C95B5)
consisting of the CBDA/BPDA mole ratio of 95/5 was applied as the
substrate and dielectrics in flexible OFET, demonstrating the compatible
and stable performance even after being baked at 200 °C for 2
h or 1000 bending cycles. The present study reveals the potential
application of biobased PIs in electronic devices for a sustainable
economy.