Abstract
Polyetherimides (PEI) are high-performance thermoplastic polymers featuring a high dielectric constant and excellent thermal stability. In particular, PEI thin films are of increasing interest for use in solid-state capacitors and membranes, yet the cost and thickness are limited by conventional synthesis and thermal drawing techniques. Here, a method of synthesizing ultrathin PEI films and coatings is introduced based on interfacial polymerization (IP) of poly(amic acid), followed by thermal imidization. Control of transport, reaction, and precipitation kinetics enables tailoring of PEI film morphology from a nanometer-scale smooth film to a porous micrometer-scale layer of polymer microparticles. At short reaction times (≈1 min) freestanding films are formed with ≈1 µm thickness, which to our knowledge surpass commercial state-of-the-art films (3–5 µm minimum thickness) made by thermal drawing. PEI films synthesized via the IP route have thermal and optical properties on par with conventional PEI. The use of the final PEI is demonstrated in structurally colored films, dielectric layers in capacitors, and show that the IP route can form nanometer-scale coatings on carbon nanotubes. The rapid film formation rate and fine property control are attractive for scale-up, and established methods for roll-to-roll processing can be applied in future work.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2214566 |
| Journal | Advanced Functional Materials |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 24 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 12 2023 |
Funding
The authors thank Prof. Zachary, P. Smith, and Dr. Justin Teesdale for access to thermogravimetric analysis tools and associated support, and Prof. Mathias Kolle and Benjamin A. Miller for providing access to optical characterization tools and for useful discussions. The authors also thank William J. Sawyer for insightful discussions regarding this work, and Dr. Joseph D. Sandt for support in developing the thin‐film interference optical model, and Dr. Margaret Lee for preliminary gel permeation chromatography measurements. This work made use of the electron microscopy facilities at MIT.nano, and thermal characterization equipment at MIT's Institute of Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN). Funding was provided by the NASA Space Technology Research Institute (STRI) for Ultra‐Strong Composites by Computational Design (US‐COMP, Grant ID NNX17AJ32G), the National Science Foundation (CMMI‐2114343), and the MIT Professor Amar G. Bose Research Grant Program. Dr. Chazot was also supported by a MathWorks Engineering Fellowship at MIT for academic years 2020–2021 and 2021–2022. The authors thank Prof. Zachary, P. Smith, and Dr. Justin Teesdale for access to thermogravimetric analysis tools and associated support, and Prof. Mathias Kolle and Benjamin A. Miller for providing access to optical characterization tools and for useful discussions. The authors also thank William J. Sawyer for insightful discussions regarding this work, and Dr. Joseph D. Sandt for support in developing the thin-film interference optical model, and Dr. Margaret Lee for preliminary gel permeation chromatography measurements. This work made use of the electron microscopy facilities at MIT.nano, and thermal characterization equipment at MIT's Institute of Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN). Funding was provided by the NASA Space Technology Research Institute (STRI) for Ultra-Strong Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP, Grant ID NNX17AJ32G), the National Science Foundation (CMMI-2114343), and the MIT Professor Amar G. Bose Research Grant Program. Dr. Chazot was also supported by a MathWorks Engineering Fellowship at MIT for academic years 2020–2021 and 2021–2022.
Keywords
- colloids
- interfacial polymerizations
- nucleation
- polyetherimide
- polymers
- thermoplastics
- thin films
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- General Chemistry
- Biomaterials
- General Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Electrochemistry