Fabrication of Ordered Porous Polyimide Films Templated by (AB)(m) Type of Diblock Copolymer

Ordered porous polyimide films were fabricated from (AB)(m) type of diblock copolymer polyimide-b-polystyrene (PI-b-PS). An increase in PS volume fraction (f (V)(PS)) is beneficial to decrease the relative dielectric constants and water contact angles of the obtained porous PI films: the relative dielectric constant decreases to 1.89 and water contact angle decreases to 43° when f (V)(PS) is 0.36, indicating porous PI films can be used as low-κ material and have good wettability. The solvent uptake of the porous PI films increases with increasing f (V)(PS). A net-like morphology appears when f (V)(PS) reaches 0.36. The net-like porous PI film reaches equilibrium uptake of water within approximately 2.5 h, with a final equilibrium uptake ratio of 17.5%, and reaches equilibrium uptake of toluene within approximately 8 h, with a final equilibrium uptake ratio of 15.4%, displaying the highest and fastest solvent uptake compared with other microstructured porous PI films, which is ascribed to the specific characteristic of the interconnecting porous channels derived from the self-assembly of PI-b-PS with f (V)(PS) 0.36. Introducing thermally degradable segments to PI-based block copolymer is an effective method to prepare porous PI films and can enhance some of their properties.