Ferrocene-Based Terpolyamides and Their PDMS-Containing Block Copolymers: Synthesis and Physical Properties

Area of Science:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Aromatic polyamides offer high performance but suffer from poor solubility, limiting their practical applications.
• Developing soluble and processable high-performance polymers remains a significant challenge in materials science.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize novel, processable ferrocene-based terpolyamides and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-containing block copolymers.
• To investigate the structure-property relationships, focusing on solubility, thermal behavior, and flame retardancy.

Main Methods:

• Low-temperature solution polycondensation for polymer synthesis.
• Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for structural characterization.
• Wide X-ray diffraction (WXRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for material morphology analysis.
• Water absorption, thermal analysis, and DFT studies to elucidate properties.

Main Results:

• Synthesized ferrocene-based terpolymers and block copolymers demonstrated solubility in common organic solvents, unlike their organic counterparts requiring sulfuric acid.
• Materials exhibited amorphous nature (WXRD) with modified surfaces in block copolymers (SEM).
• Demonstrated low water absorption and high limiting oxygen index (LOI) values, indicating good flame-retardant properties.

Conclusions:

• Ferrocene incorporation significantly enhances the solubility and processability of aromatic polyamides.
• The developed polymers possess desirable flame-retardant characteristics suitable for high-performance applications.
• DFT studies confirmed the monomer roles in the polycondensation mechanism.