Multifunctional behavior of POSS-reinforced imidazole core polyimide nanocomposites

A new imidazole core unsymmetrical diamine monomer (4, 4′ (4, 5-diphenyl-1H-imidazol-1, 2-diyl) dianiline) was successfully synthesized and used as precursor to develop polyimide (PI). In addition, different weight percentages of octaaminophenyl silsesquioxane (NH2-POSS) were reinforced to form, respective, POSS–PI nanocomposites. The formation of polyimides and composites was confirmed by various spectral analyses in addition to their morphology studies by scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscope. Further, the developed neat PI and POSS–PI nanocomposites were studied for their thermal, optical, dielectric and antimicrobial properties. Data resulted from different studies indicated that the incorporation of 10 wt% NH2-POSS into the PI matrix show higher glass transition temperature, higher thermal stability and better UV shielding behavior when compared to the neat PI matrix as well as other POSS–PI composites. Dielectric studies infer that the value of dielectric constant was decreased with increasing the weight percentages of NH2-POSS reinforcement and the lowest value of dielectric constant (k = 2.1) was obtained for 10 wt% POSS–PI hybrid nanocomposites in addition to its better antimicrobial behavior. Thus, the current study promises that the developed PI and POSS–PI can be used as a multifunctional composite in various high-performance applications.