Achieving an Ultralow‑κ yet Strong and Transparent Film by Antisolvent-Confined Nanowelding of Electrospun Polyimide Nanofibers

Developing ultralow-κ (dielectric constant) polyimides (PIs) that are mechanically robust while also being optically transparent is challenging. For the first time, we report a nanoporous PI film with an ultralow κ of 1.8 in combination with a tensile strength of up to 180 MPa, a Young’s modulus of up to 6 GPa, and a transmittance of ∼88%. This is achieved by direct nanowelding of a porous electrospun PI nanofiber membrane using a simple mixture of ethanol-dominating DMAc. Benefiting from the effective evaporation of the antisolvent ethanol upon heating, the proposed nanowelding approach allows for the localized surface dissolution of the PI nanofibers, which enables the dissolved PI to “glue” the nanofibers and occupy vacant space in the membrane, resulting in the formation of a dense but nanoporous self-reinforced nanocomposite film. Our findings provide a renewed understanding of the potential of electrospun nanofibrous materials, and the underlying principle can hopefully be applied to other commodity polymers.