This book describes advances in synthesis, processing, and technology of environmentally friendly polymers generated from renewable resources. With contents based on a wide range of functional monomers and contributions from eminent researchers, this volume demonstrates the design, synthesis, properties and applications of plant oil based polymers, presenting an elaborate review of acid mediated polymerization techniques for the generation of green polymers. Chemical engineers are provided with state-of-the-art information that acts to further progress research in this direction.

Vikas Mittal is an Assistant Professor at the Chemical Engineering Department of The Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi. He obtained his PhD in 2006 in Polymer and Materials Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. Later, he worked as a Materials Scientist in the Active and Intelligent Coatings section of Sun Chemical in London, UK and as Polymer Engineer at BASF Polymer Research in Ludwigshafen, Germany. His research interests include polymer nanocomposites, novel filler surface modifications, thermal stability enhancements, and polymer latexes with functionalized surfaces.

Preface xiii

List of Contributors xv

1 High Performance Polymers: An Overview 1
V. Mittal

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Poly (ether amide) and Poly(ether amide-imide) 3

1.3 Poly(arylene ether) 7

1.4 Benzoxazine Polymers 8

1.5 Poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) 11

1.6 Polytriazole 14

1.7 Hyperbranched Conjugated Polymers 15

1.8 Alternating Copolymers 19

1.9 References 20

2 Synthesis and Properties of Polyoxadiazoles 21
Dominique de Figueiredo Gomes

2.1 Introduction 21

2.2 Synthesis of Polyoxadiazoles in Poly(phosphoric acid) 24

2.3 Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Polyoxadiazoles 27

2.4 Application Fields 32

2.5 References 46

3 Conjugated Polymers Based on Benzo[l,2-b:4,5-b'] dithiophene for Organic Electronics 49
Huaxing Zhou and Wei You

3.1 Introduction 49

3.2 General Synthetic Methods for BDT Monomers and Polymers 50

3.3 Application of BDT-Based Polymers in OFET and PSC 56

3.4 Outlook 76

3.5 References 76

Polysulfone-Based Ionomers 81
Cristina Iojoiu and Rakhi Sood

4.1 Introduction 81

4.2 Polysulfone Backbone and Selection of the Ionic Function 83

4.3 lonomer Synthesis and Characterization 85

4.4 Conclusion 107

4.5 References 107

5 High-Performance Processable Aromatic Polyamides 111
S Banerjee and S Maji

5.1 Introduction 111

5.2 Monomers 113

5.3 Polymerization 116

5.4 Major Problem with Aromatic Polyamides 121

5.5 Approaches to Processable Polyamides 121

5.6 Processable Linear Aromatic Polyamides 122

5.7 Processable Hyperbranched Aromatic Polyamides 134

5.8 Properties 143

5.9 Applications 149

5.10 Conclusion 162

5.11 References 162

6 Phosphorus-Containing Polysulfones 167
Oana Petreus and Tudor Petreus

6.1 Introduction 167

6.2 Synthesis of Phosphorus Containing Polysulfones 171

6.3 Properties of Phosphorus-Containing Polysulfones (P-PSF) 178

6.4 High Performance Applications of Phosphorus-Containing Polysulfones 188

6.5 References 198

7 Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Polyimides 205
Atsushi Morikawa

7.1 Introduction 205

7.2 Synthesis of Polyimides 207

7.3 Properties of Aromatic Polyimides 211

7.4 Conclusions 238

7.5 References 240

8 The Effects of Structures on Properties of New Polytriazole Resins 243
Farong Huang, Liqiang Wan, Lei Du, YanhongHu, Yanpeng E and Yujing Li

8.1 Introduction 244

8.2 The Preparation of Polytriazole Resins 245

8.3 Reactivity of Crosslinkable Polytriazole Resins 251

8.4 Glass Transition Temperatures of Polytriazole Resins 253

8.5 Mechanical Properties of Polytriazole Resins 259

8.6 Dielectric Properties of Polytriazole Resins 260

8.7 Thermal Stabilities of Polytriazole Resins 261

8.8 Conclusions 263

8.9 Acknowledgement 265

8.10 References 265

9 High Performance Fibers 269
Mehdi Afshari, Richard Kotek, Peng Chen

Introduction 269

9.1 PIPD or "M5" Rigid Rod 270

9.2 "Zylon" PBO Rigid Rod Polymer Fibers 279

9.3 Aromatic Polyamide-Rigid Rod "Kevlar" Poly(p-Phenylene Terephthalamide) Fibers 296

9.4 Spectra, Dyneema UHMWPE Flexible Polymer Chain 307

9.5 Carbon Fibers 318

9.6 Advances in Improving Performance of Conventional Fibers 323

9.7 Conclusions 331

9.8 Acknowledgments 331

9.9 References 332

10 Synthesis and Characterization of Poly (aryl ether ketone) Copolymers 341
G Wang

10.1 Introduction 341

10.2 General Synthetic Methods of PAEK Copolymers 342

10.3 Synthesis and Characterization of Structural Poly (aryl ether ketone) Copolymers 342

10.4 Synthesis and Characterization of Liquid Crystalline Poly (aryl ether ketone) Copolymers 351

10.5 Synthesis and Characterization of Poly (aryl ether ketone) Copolymers with Pendent Group 367

10.6 Synthesis and Characterization of poly (aryl ether ketone) copolymers with Containing 2,7 -Naphthalene Moieties 377

10.7 References 383

11 Liquid Crystalline Thermoset Epoxy Resins 387
P. Kannan and P. Sudhakara

11.1 Liquid Crystals 387

11.2 Liquid Crystalline Thermosets Based on Epoxy Resins 392

11.3 Synthesis and Physical Properties of LCERs 396

11.4 References 420

Index 423