LIBS as a novel tool for the determination of the imidization degree of polyimides

Abstract Due to their outstanding chemical and physical properties, polyimides are widely used in industrial applications. The degree of imidization of polyimides significantly influences their properties, making it an important factor in tailoring the material for specific applications. Imidization refers to the process of converting a precursor poly(amic acid) by removing water, and it is essential to analyze this process in detail to tune the final structure and properties of the material. Conventional techniques for this task include Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), or differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), but they lack the possibility of spatially and/or depth-resolved analysis or do not enable in-line monitoring capabilities. To overcome these limitations, we propose laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) as a powerful tool for the monitoring of the imidization reaction. To establish a measurement method, a total of 130 in-house prepared, self-synthesized samples were thermally cured to exhibit varying imidization degrees. IR spectroscopy served as a reference technique during method development, and a novel formula for calculating the degree of imidization, based on the C2 and H signal trends, was introduced. The calculated imidization degrees of model thin films based on LIBS were in good accordance with the IR reference method although minor differences between the two methods were expected due to varying information depth and the size of the sampled area. Additionally, the robustness of the procedure was demonstrated by depth profiling of a stacked model polymer, spiking with commercially available additives and, ultimately, by analyzing industry-relevant polymer samples. Graphical Abstract