Thermal and dielectric properties of electrospun fiber membranes from polyimides with different structural units

ABSTRACT In this work, electrospinning technique was used to prepare low dielectric constant membranes. First, three kinds of polyimide (PI) fiber membranes were fabricated by electrospinning of poly(amic acid) (PAA) solutions which are from polycondensation of 4,4′‐oxidianiline (ODA) and three dianhydrides, pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), 2,2′‐bis(3,4‐dicarboxyphenyl) hexafluropropane dianhydride (6FDA) and 1,2,4,5‐cyclohexanetetracarboxylic dianhydride(HPMDA), followed by imidization at higher temperature. The relationship of the fiber morphology, thermostability and dielectric properties of the membranes with the polymer structure were discussed. Under the same conditions, PAAs with more flexible structure are easier to form low viscosity solution and fabricate high pore fraction membranes which are low dielectric constant materials. Under the coupling effect of fluorine‐containing groups and contribution of pores, the dielectric constant of 6FDA‐containing PI is lowered to 1.21 at 1 KHz with lower dielectric loss which accords with the calculated one. Also the 5% weight loss temperature of the three kinds of PIs is all higher than 400°C. The formed electrospun membranes are thermostable low dielectric constant materials. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43081.