2/4/2011
Fabrication of well-aligned electrospun nanofibrous membrane based on fluorinated polyimide
(861–866)Polymers for Advanced Technologies 21 #12 (2010)
Karube and Kawakami of the Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan fabricated nanofibrous fluorinated polyimide membranes on a specially designed collector, which is composed of conductive aluminum plates and glass insulator materials and can be removed from the apparatus, using an electrospinning method.  The electrospun nanofibers were deposited across the plates and uniaxially aligned to the collector. In addition, the multi-layer stacked nanofibrous membranes, consisting of three-dimensionally ordered nanopores, were produced. The pure water fluxes for the stacked membranes were measured, using a stirred dead-end filtration cell, and were linearly decreased with an increasing deposition time, indicating that the nanopores formed in the nanofibrous membrane were further narrowed due to the regularly accumulated nanofibers.   (RDC 2/4/2011)

1/28/2011
Fluorinated phenylethynyl-terminated imide oligomers with reduced melt viscosity and enhanced melt stability  
(138-148 Polymer 52 #1 (2011)
Yang et al of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China synthesized two novel fluorinated phenyethynyl-contained endcapping agents, 4-(3-trifluoromethyl-1-phenylethynyl)phthalic anhydride (3F-PEPA) and 4-(3,5-bistrifluoromethyl-1-phenylethynyl)phthalic anhydride (6F-PEPA) which were employed to synthesize two fluorinated model compounds, N-phenyl-4(3-trifluoromethyl)-phenylethynylphthalimide (3F-M) and N-phenyl-4(3,5-bitrifluoromethyl)-phenylethynyl phthalimide (6F-M).  Based on the model compounds study, a series of fluorinated phenylethynyl-terminated imide oligomers (F-PETIs) with different calculated molecular weights (Calc'd Mn) were synthesized by thermal polycondensation of 2,3,3′,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic acid dianhydride (a-BPDA) and 3,4′-oxydianiline (3,4′-ODA) using 3F-PEPA or 6F-PEPA as the endcapping agent.  Experimental results reveal that the melt processability of F-PETI was apparently improved by the reduced resin melt viscosities and the enhanced melt stability due to the incorporation of the −CF3 groups in the imide backbone.  (RDC 1/27/2011)

Blistering in carbon-fiber-filled fluorinated polyimide
(185–192)Polymer Composites 32 #2 (2011)
Adamczak et al of Texas A&M University, Texas and NASA Glenn Research Center, Ohio studied the blistering of a fluorinated polyimide resin and its carbon-fiber composite.  The polyimide resin exhibited blister temperatures ranging from 225 to 362°C, with 1.7–3.0 wt% absorbed moisture, and the polyimide composite had blister temperatures from 246 to 294°C with 0.5–1.5 wt% moisture. The blistering effects of the polyimide composites were found to have little correlation with modulus.  (RDC 1/28/2011)