Morphology and size control of inorganic particles in polyimide hybrids by using SiO2–TiO2 mixed oxide

Polyimide/inorganic hybrids were prepared by sol–gel reaction starting from tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), and tetrabutyl titanate (TBT) in the solution of polyamic acid in N,N-dimethylformamide. The hybrid films were obtained by the hydrolysis-polycondensation of TEOS and TBT in polyamic acid solution, followed by the elimination of solvents and imidization process. Binary polyimide/SiO2 and polyimide/TiO2 hybrids, as well as ternary polyimide/SiO2–TiO2 hybrids (with varied ratio of SiO2 to TiO2) were prepared to study the effects of the recipes and inorganic components on the morphologies of the polyimide hybrids. Transparent films with much higher inorganic content can be obtained in ternary polyimide hybrids, while lower inorganic content in binary hybrids. The results also indicate that the inorganic particles are much smaller in the ternary systems than in the binary systems, the shape of the inorganic particles and the compatibility for polyimide and inorganic moieties are varied with the ratio of the inorganic moieties in the hybrids. The completely imidization temperature of the polyamic acid was delayed, and furthermore, the thermal stability of polyimide was enhanced through the incorporation of the inorganic moieties in the hybrid materials.