Asymmetric biphenyl type polyimides (PI) were prepared by thermal imidization of polyamic
acids (PAA) derived from 2,3,3‘,4‘-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (a-BPDA) and p-phenylenediamine
(PDA) or 4,4‘-oxydianiline (ODA). The dynamic mechanical properties of these PIs were compared with
those of the isomeric PIs derived from symmetric 3,4,3‘,4‘-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (s-BPDA).
a-BPDA/PDA polyimide has a considerably bent chain structure compared to semirigid s-BPDA/PDA.
Nevertheless, the a-BPDA/PDA film annealed at 350 °C showed a higher T
g than the s-BPDA/PDA film
prepared under the same conditions. When these PIs were annealed at 400 °C, a-BPDA/PDA exhibited
an abrupt E‘ decrease at the T
g (=410 °C) as well as the counterpart annealed at 350 °C, whereas s-BPDA/PDA showed no distinct T
g in the E‘ curve. Similar annealing effects were also observed for the ODA
systems. The unexpectedly higher T
g's of a-BPDA-based PIs could be explained in terms of the more
restricted conformational change through the crank shaft-like motion. The difference between the extents
of the E‘ decrease at the T
g for a- and s-BPDA-based PIs is attributed to the difference of the intensity
of intermolecular interactions. The blends of s-BPDA/PDA with a-BPDA-based PI (80/20) and the
corresponding copolyimide improved the insufficient thermal processability of homo s-BPDA/PDA without
causing a decrease in T
g. The results revealed that, for semirigid s-BPDA/PDA, a-BPDA-based PIs are
better matrix polymers than s-BPDA/ODA.