BETA-RELAXATION IN POLYIMIDES

A series of polyimides with different structures have been synthesized and studied by dynamic mechanical analysis. The results obtained indicate that the beta relaxation in polyimides is related to the rotation of rigid segment(s) of p-phenylene and imide groups around 'hinges' such as -O-, -CH2- and so on in diamines. It is noticed that two kinds of polyimides both with [GRAPHICS] imide groups have verv weak beta relaxation below the glass transition temperature. This phenomenon is due to the fact that the configuration of chains with the above imide groups hinders the rotation of the rigid segments in the chains.