Soluble functional (co)polyimides are of great interest in the area of separation processes or optical applications, due to their excellent mechanical-, thermal- and optical properties, their superior processability and the ability to adapt their properties to a wide range of special applications. Therefore, two series of novel (co)polyimides containing fluorinated sulfur- and carboxylic acid groups consisting of 4,4'-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)di(phthalic anhydride) (6FDA), 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid (DABA), 4,4'-diaminodiphenylsulfide (4,4'-SDA) and 3,3'-diaminodiphenylsulfone (3,3'-DDS) were synthesized in a two-step polycondensation reaction. The synthesized copolymers were characterized by using NMR, FTIR, GPC, and DSC. Furthermore, with regard to processing and potential applications, the thermal stability, solubility in common organic solvents, moisture uptake, and transparency were investigated. Compared to commercially available transparent polymers, i.e., polymethylmethacrylate and cycloolefin polymers, the sulfur (co)polyimides containing carboxyl groups showed much higher glass-transition temperatures, comparably low moisture uptake and high transmission at the sodium D-line. Furthermore, good solubility in commonly used organic solvents makes them very attractive as high-performance coating materials.
Keywords: DABA; functional (co)polyimides; optical polymers; sulfur-containing polymers; transparency.