Liaw, DerJ; Wang, KLi; Huang, YChi; Lee, KR; Lai, JYih; Ha, CSik
Polyimides rank among the most heat-resistant polymers and
are widely used in high temperature plastics, adhesives, dielectrics, photoresists, nonlinear
optical materials, membrane materials for separation, and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films, among
others. Additionally, polyimides are used in a diverse range of applications, including the
fields of aerospace, defense, and opto-electronics; they are also used in liquid crystal
alignments, composites, electroluminescent devices, electrochromic materials, polymer electrolyte
fuel cells, polymer memories, fiber optics, etc. Polyimides derived from monomers with
noncoplanar (kink, spiro, and cardo structures), cyclic aliphatic, bulky, fluorinated, hetero,
carbazole, perylene, chiral, non-linear optical and unsymmetrical structures have been described.
The syntheses of various monomers, including diamines and dianhydrides that have been used to
make novel polyimides with unique properties, are reported in this review. Polyimides, with
tailored functional groups and dendritic structures have allowed researchers to tune the
properties and applications of this important family of high-temperature polymers. The synthesis,
physical properties and applications of advanced polyimide materials are described. (C) 2012
Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.