Effects of biopolyimide molecular design on their silica hybrids thermo-mechanical, optical and electrical properties

Polymers, derived from bio-derived resources, have gained considerable momentum because of a lower dependence over conventional fossil-based resources without compromising the materials' thermo-mechanical properties. Unique characteristics of organic and inorganic materials can be incorporated by a combination of both to obtain hybrid materials. We have recently developed a series of transparent biopolyimides (BPI) from a biologically derived exotic amino acid, 4-aminocinnamic acid (4ACA) to yield 4-amino truxillic ester (4ATA ester) derivatives. In the present research, the polyimide-precursor was subjected to sol–gel polycondensation reactions with silicon-alkoxide followed by annealing under vacuo to yield a biopolyimide-silica hybrid. The biopolyimide structures (4ATA acid/ester) and their silica hybrids thermo-mechanical, electrical and optical performance were evaluated. It was found that the biopolyimide with 4ATA(ester) yields thermo-mechanically robust films with very high electrical stability as well as optical transparency, plausibly due to the uniform dispersion of the silica particles in the biopolyimide matrix.