novel functional aromatic polyimides and polyimide/titania nanocomposite thin films for gas separation: preparation and structural characterization

In this study, the synthesis, morphology, gas transport and thermal properties of novel functional aromatic polyimides and polyimide/titania nanohybrid films were investigated. the novel dianhydride containing functional trifluoromethyl groups was prepared in two steps by the nucleophilic substitution reaction, and it was fully characterized by different techniques. the tensile stress–strain of the hybrids was investigated, and the resulting nanocomposites showed good mechanical properties. the permeability and selectivity of the pi/tio2 membranes as a function of the titania weight percentage were studied, and the results indicated that the permeabilities of co2 and n2 increase with increasing the titania content.