Novel Heat-resistant Poly(sulfone ether imide)s with Improved Solubility

Aromatic polyimides are heat resistant polymers that generally show excellent physical properties [1]. However, one of the drawbacks to the employment of these highperformance polymers is the difficulty in processing due to their high melting temperatures or high glass transitiontemperatures [2]. Therefore, some significant synthetic efforts,in the area of high-temperature resistant polymers, have been focused on improving their processability and solubilitythrough the design and synthesis of new monomers. Copolycondensation is one of the possible ways for modification of polymer properties. Thus, for the processing of polyimides many copolyimides, such as poly(sulfoneimide) s, poly(ether-imide)s, poly(ester-imide)s and othercopolymers have been prepared [3,4]. Aromatic polymers that contain aryl ether linkage generally have greater tractability, lower glass transition, and greaterchain flexibility than their corresponding polymers without these groups in the repeat units