Uncatalyzed Ring-opening Crosslinking Reaction of a Fully Aromatic Poly(ether ketone) Bearing Macrocyclic Cauda

Abstract

A novel fully aromatic sul-containing macrocycle-terminated poly(aryl ether ketone) (PAEK-C) was prepared by condensation of macrocyclic aryl ether ketone dimers containing hydroxyphenyl groups and a fluorine end-capped poly(aryl ether ketone) oligomer. The PAEK-C exhibited high thermal stability due to its wholly aromatic structure. The crosslinking reaction of PAEK-C could allow fully aromatic thermoset poly(aryl ether ketone) by ring-opening reaction without the existence of catalyst. After crosslinking, the glass transition temperature of the thermoset increased greatly. The obtained poly(aryl ether ketone) thermoset had good thermal stability with 5% weight loss temperature above 500 ^o C in N₂.

Keywords:

• Poly(aryl ether ketone)
• macrocycle
• ring-opening reaction
• thermal properties

Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the Natural Science Foundationof China (no. 50773025).