Formation of Metallic Nanophases in Polymeric Matrices for Space Applications

There are a select number of polyimides which are soluble in organic media. Incorporation of hexafluoroisopropylidene groups is a route to achieving solubility. Such fluorinated polyimides have desirable properties for processing and electronic purposes; however, they often have linear coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) which are well above those for metals and inorganic oxides or ceramics with which they might be bonded. We have developed a synthesis of composite inorganic-polyimide films using diaquotris(2,4-pentane-dionato)lanthanam(III) as the inorganic precursor and two soluble polyimides formed from 2,2-bis(3,4- dicarboxyphenyl)hexafluoro-propane (6FDA) and 1,3-bis(3-aminophenoxy)benzene (APB) or 2,2-bis[4-(4-aminophenoxy)phenyllhexafluoropropane (4-BDAF). A primary goal of our work was to control the linear CTE in these fluorinated polymer composites without adversely affecting mechanical or other thermal properties.