Synthesis and characterization of bismaleimides from epoxy resins

Novel bismaleimides (BMIs) were prepared from functional monomaleimides and diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and some of them were shown to have good processibility and improved water resistance while retaining characteristic thermal stability of polyimide. Functional monomaleimides were synthesized via the condensation reaction of maleic anhydride with either aminobenzoic acid or aminophenol. Crosslinking reaction of thus obtained BMIs was carried out with or without catalyst at the temperature range of 100–250°C. The type of the functional group species and their position in monomaleimides significantly affected the crosslinking behavior of the resulting BMIs and the thermal property of their crosslinked products. BMIs with meta linkage, obtained from meta monomaleimides, exhibited much faster thermal crosslinking behavior than corresponding para BMIs. When the molecular weight of BMI was larger, the crosslinking density became smaller and T_g was lower as expected, while the viscosity started to increase at a higher temperature. Glass transition temperatures of the crosslinked resins were in the range of 160–250°C and these resins showed excellent thermal stability up to 370°C.