Synthesis and property investigation of poly(arylene ether)s with pendant cyclohexyl units

A series of poly(arylene ether)s with pendant cyclohexyl units had been prepared by solution polycondensation of 4,4′-cyclohexane-1,1′-diyldiphenol (CHDP) and 4,4′-difluorobenzophenone (DFBP) (or 4,4′-difluorodiphenylsulfone (DFDPS)). The inherent viscosities of obtained poly(arylene ether)s were in the range of 0.49–0.97 dLg −1 . They were found to have high glass transition temperatures (T g ) of 158–208 °C, and good thermal stability with 5% weight-loss temperature (T 5% ) of 442–484 °C. The tensile test and dynamic mechanical analysis results indicate the good mechanical properties of poly(arylene ether)s. Their Young’s Mdoulus were found to be 2.2–2.3 GPa, tensile strengths were 81.0–97.7 MPa, storage mdoulus were over 1.5 GPa even near glass transition temperature. The complex viscosities of the resultant polymers melt maintained a narrow range of 308–313 Pas at 260 °C or 2700–4600 Pas at 340 °C during the testing time. That indicates the resultant resins have good melt flowability and stability. In addition, these poly(arylene ether)s were found to have good solubility in various solvents such as CHCl 3 , THF, NMP, DMAc, DMI, etc., and have good optical transmittance (>80%) at 450 nm. It suggests that the obtained poly(arylene ether)s not only can be processed by melt method, but also can be applied with solution method easily, and can be applied to tough and transparent films.