Preparation and Characterization of Polyimide-Silica Nanocomposites by Sol-Gel Process

Polyimide (PI)-based nanocomposites were prepared by the in-situ generation of organic silica nano-particles through a sol-gel process, combined with spin coating and multi-step curing process. In this study, silica nano-particles were introduced into the PI matrix to promote its thermal properties. Nanometer-scale composites were successfully obtained from poly(amic acid) (PAA) mixture loaded with silica. 3,3’,4,4’- Biphenyl tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and p-phenylenediamine (p-PDA) were employed to synthesize the PAA precursor. The hybrid thin film was prepared from aminoalkoxysilane-capped PAA and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). In this work, we investigated the effect of coupling agent, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APrTEOS). The TGA results indicate that the thermal stability of the nanocomposites can be enhanced as silica content increases. Without the incorporation of APrTEOS, less improvement can be achieved.