Study of the Effects of the Structure of Phthalazinone’s Side-Group on the Properties of the Poly(phthalazinone ether ketone)s Resins

The application of poly(phthalazinone ether ketone)s (PPEKs) resin containing phthalazinone moiety is limited, due to its poor thermoforming processability. To investigate the effects of the phthalazinone’s side-group on the thermal stability and processability of the resin, a series of PPEKs resins with different side-group (–H/–CH(3)/–Ph) were prepared by nucleophilic aromatic substitution polymerization. The properties of the obtained resins were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry analysis (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic thermomechanical analysis (DMA), and rheogoniometer. The results show that the introduction of methyl or phenyl into the PPEKs resin, significantly reduced the melting viscosity of the resin, but resulted in a slight decrease in the thermal stability of it. This might be due to the presence of methyl or phenyl, which enhanced the free volume of the molecule and reduced the entanglement between the chains; the results of the computer simulation confirmed it. Moreover, the resin films displayed excellent tensile strength with the introduction of methyl or phenyl. In a word, a novel poly(phthalazinone ether ketone)s resin with thermal resistance, easy processing and excellent mechanical properties could be obtained by introducing appropriate bulk-rigid side-groups into the phthalazinone moiety.