Synthesis and AO Resistant Properties of Novel Polyimide Fibers Containing Phenylphosphine Oxide Groups in Main Chain

A series of co-polyimide(PI)fibers containing phenylphosphine oxide(PPO)group were synthesized by incorporating the bis(4-aminophenoxy)phenyl phosphine oxide(DAPOPPO)monomer into the PI molecular chain followed by dry-jet wet spinning.The effects of DAPOPPO molar content on the atomic oxygen(AO)resistance of the fibers were investigated systematically.When the AO fluence increased from 0to 3.2×1020the mass loss of the fibers showed the dependence on DAPOPPO molar content in co-PI fibers.The PI fiber containing 40%DAPOPPO showed lower mass loss compared to those containing 0%and 20%DAPOPPO.At higher AO fluence,the higher DAPOPPO content gave rise to dense carpet-like surface of fibers.XPS results indicated that the passivated phosphate layer was deposited on the fiber surface when exposed to AO,which effectively prevented fiber from AO erosion.With the DAPOPPO content increasing from 0%to 40%,the retentions of tensile strength and initial modulus for the fibers exhibited obvious growth from 44%to 68%,and 59%to 70%,after AO exposure with the fluence of 3.2×1020The excellent AO resistance benefits the fibers for application in low Earth orbit as flexible construction components.

INTERACTION BETWEEN POLY (ETHYLENE OXIDE) AND SILICA NANOPARTICLES IN DILUTE SOLUTIONS

A mixed system that includes poly（ethylene oxide） （PEO） and silica （SiO2） nanoparticles is prepared using two mixing methods. The interaction between PEO and the SiO2 nanoparticles in the dilute basic solution is investigated using the dynamic tight scattering （DLS） and isothermal titration calorimetry （ITC） techniques. The DLS results show qualitatively that SiO2 nanoparticles interact with both random coils and aggregates of PEO through hydrogen bonding, and PEO-SiO2 complexes are formed. The degree of disaggregation of aggregates of PEO is readily adjusted by changing the concentration of SiO2 nanoparticle suspensions. Moreover, the ITC results also certify quantitatively the interaction between PEO and SiO2 nanoparticle, and give the evidence of formation of PEO-SiO2 complex.

Comparison of Different Methods for Determining the Imidization Degree of Polyimide Fibers

In this study, polyimide fibers at different stages of imidization were characterized by TGA, DSC, and FTIR. The imidization degree （ID） calculated by TGA was based on the weight loss of each sample, which was caused by the imidization of residual amic acid groups. The results of TGA showed good regularity with the thermal treatment temperature of the PI fibers. For DSC, the ID was calculated based on the area of endothermal peak of each sample. Compared with TGA, DSC showed a relatively higher value because the endothermal peak was reduced by the exothermic re-formation of polyamic acid which may be partially degraded during thermal treatment. The IDs obtained by the FTIR spectra generally showed poorer regularities than those obtained by both TGA and DSC, especially for the results calculated using the 730 cm^-1 band. Based on the 1350 cm^-1 band, the obtained IDs showed better agreement with the TGA or DSC results. The results obtained by these three methods were compared and analyzed. The ID obtained by TGA showed much more reliability among these three methods.

Mechanical Properties of Polyimide/Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube Composite Fibers

A series of polyimide（PI）/multi-walled carbon nanotube（MWCNT） composite fibers were prepared by copolymerizing a mixture of monomers and carboxylic-functionalized MWCNTs, followed by dry-jet wet spinning, thermal imidization, and hot-drawing process. The content of the carboxylic groups of MWCNTs significantly increased when treated with mixed acid, whereas their length decreased with treatment time. Both the carboxylic content and length of MWCNTs influenced the mechanical properties of the composite fibers. Fiber added with 0.1 wt% MWCNTs treated for 4 h exhibited the best mechanical properties, i.e., 1.4 GPa tensile strength and 14.30% elongation at break, which were 51% and 32% higher than those of pure PI fibers, respectively. These results indicated that a suitable MWCNT content strengthened and toughened the resultant PI composite fibers, simultaneously. Moreover, raising draw ratio resulted in the increase of tensile strength and tensile modulus of the composite fibers.