Synthesis and characterization of amorphous polyamides containing oxyethylene and silicon in the main chain

New aromatic polyamides having silicon and oxyethylene units in the main chain were synthesized by the low-temperature interfacial polycondensation of various aromatic diamines with bis(4-chlorocarboxyphenyl)dimethylsilane (DCMS). All the polymers were amorphous, and most of them were soluble in a variety of organic solvents such as NMP, DMF, DMAc, DMSO, and m-cresol Inherent viscosities were ranged from 0.43 to 1.08 dL/g. They could be cast from the NMP solution into transparent and flexible films having good tensile properties (41.4 similar to 59.7 MPa). The glass transition temperatures of polyamides obtained from the oxyethylene-containing diamines were 115 similar to 287 degrees C. The temperatures of 10% weight loss under nitrogen of the polymers were in the range of 434 and 477 degrees C. Number-average molecular weights ((M) over bar(n)) and weight-average molecular weights ((M) over bar(w)) of the polyamides determined by GPC using polystyrene standards were from 114000 to 385000 and from 184000 to 628000, respectively.