Preparation and performance of a novel polyimide foam

Abstract A new type of polyimide foam (PIF) was prepared and characterized based on a one‐pot process by the reaction of a first solution with different ratios of a second solution. The first solution was comprised of pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), N, N‐dimethyl formamide (DMF), methanol, water, surfactant, and catalysts, while the second solution contained polyaryl polymethylene isocyanate (PAPI). In the present study, the relationships among compositions, structures, and properties of PIFs were investigated. The results indicated that with the increase in the weight ratio of PAPI/(first solution), the foaming degrees of PIFs increased from 10.14 to 10.52 times and the apparent densities before postcure decreased from 15.96 to 14.51 kg/m3. The open cell contents, average sound absorption coefficients, and average cellular diameters of PIFs after postcure increased with increase in the weight ratio of PAPI/(first solution). The glass transition temperatures (Tg) of PIFs after postcure first increased from 287 to 299°C, then decreased to 292°C, and the 5% weight loss temperatures and 10% weight loss temperatures presented the same trend as well. The compressive and flatwise tensile properties scaled very well with the relative densities of the foams after postcure, with the highest compressive strength of 0.03 MPa and the highest flatwise tensile strength of 0.15 MPa. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.