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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2008

High-Performance Polyimide Powder Coatings

Much of the infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center and other NASA sites has been subjected to outside weathering effects for more than 40 years. Because much of this infrastructure has metallic surfaces, considerable effort is continually devoted to developing methods to minimize the effects of corrosion on these surfaces. These efforts are especially intense at KSC, where offshore salt spray and exhaust from Solid Rocket Boosters accelerate corrosion. Coatings of various types have traditionally been the choice for minimizing corrosion, and improved corrosion control methods are constantly being researched. Recent work at KSC on developing an improved method for repairing Kapton (polyimide)-based electrical wire insulation has identified polyimides with much lower melting points than traditional polyimides used for insulation. These lower melting points and the many other outstanding physical properties of polyimides (thermal stability, chemical resistance, and electrical properties) led us to investigate whether they could be used in powder coatings.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2009

Polyimide-Foam/Aerogel Composites for Thermal Insulation

Composites of specific types of polymer foams and aerogel particles or blankets have been proposed to obtain thermal insulation performance superior to those of the neat polyimide foams. These composites have potential to also provide enhanced properties for vibration dampening or acoustic attenuation. The specific type of polymer foam is denoted "TEEK-H", signifying a series, denoted H, within a family of polyimide foams that were developed at NASA s Langley Research Center and are collectively denoted TEEK (an acronym of the inventors names). The specific types of aerogels include Nanogel aerogel particles from Cabot Corporation in Billerica, MA. and of Spaceloft aerogel blanket from Aspen Aerogels in Northborough, MA. The composites are inherently flame-retardant and exceptionally thermally stable. There are numerous potential uses for these composites, at temperatures from cryogenic to high temperatures, in diverse applications that include aerospace vehicles, aircraft, ocean vessels, buildings, and industrial process equipment. Some low-temperature applications, for example, include cryogenic storage and transfer or the transport of foods, medicines, and chemicals. Because of thermal cycling, aging, and weathering most polymer foams do not perform well at cryogenic temperatures and will undergo further cracking over time. The TEEK polyimides are among the few exceptions to this pattern, and the proposed composites are intended to have all the desirable properties of TEEK-H foams, plus improved thermal performance along with enhanced vibration or acoustic-attenuation performance. A composite panel as proposed would be fabricated by adding an appropriate amount of TEEK friable balloons into a mold to form a bottom layer. A piece of flexible aerogel blanket material, cut to the desired size and shape, would then be placed on the bottom TEEK layer and sandwiched between another top layer of polyimide friable balloons so that the aerogel blanket would become completely encased in an outer layer of TEEK friable balloons. Optionally, the process could be further repeated to produce multiple aerogel-blanket layers interspersed with and encased by TEEK friable balloons.

Williams, Martha↗
NASA NTRS2010

Epoxy/Glass and Polyimide (LaRC(TradeMark) PETI-8)/Carbon Fiber Metal Laminates Made by the VARTM Process

Recent work at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has concentrated on developing new polyimide resin systems for advanced aerospace applications that can be processed without the use of an autoclave. Polyimide composites are very attractive for applications that require a high strength to weight ratio and thermal stability. Vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) has shown the potential to reduce the manufacturing cost of composite structures. Fiber metal laminates (FML) made via this process with aluminum, glass fabric, and epoxy resins have been previously fabricated at LaRC. In this work, the VARTM process has been refined for epoxy/glass FMLs and extended to the fabrication of FM Ls with titanium/carbon fabric layers and a polyimide system developed at NASA, LARC(TradeMark) PETI-8. Resin flow pathways were introduced into the titanium foils to aid the infiltration of the polyimide resin. Injection temperatures in the range of 250-280 C were required to achieve the necessary VARTM viscosities (<10 Poise). Laminate quality and initial mechanical properties will be presented.

Cano, Roberto J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Coupling Between Microstrip Lines and Finite Ground Coplanar Lines Embedded in Polyimide Layers for 3D-MMICs on Silicon

Three-dimensional circuits built upon multiple layers of polyimide are required for constructing Si/SiGe monolithic microwave/mm-wave integrated circuits on CMOS (low resistivity) Si wafers. It is expected that these circuits will replace the ones fabricated on GaAs and reduce the overall system cost. However, the closely spaced transmission lines that are required for a high-density circuit environment are susceptible to high levels of cross-coupling, which degrades the overall circuit performance. In this paper, theoretical and experimental results on coupling and ways to reduce it are presented for two types of transmission lines: a) the microstrip line and b) the Finite Ground Coplanar (FGC) line. For microstrip lines it is shown that a fence of metalized via-holes can significantly reduce coupling, especially in the case when both lines are on the same polyimide layer or when the shielding structure extends through several polyimide layers. For closely spaced microstrip lines, coupling is lower for a metal filled trench shield than a via-hole fence. Coupling amongst microstrip lines is dependent on the ratio of line separation to polyimide thickness and is primarily due to magnetic fields. For FGC lines it is shown that they have in general low coupling that can be reduced significantly when there is even a small gap between the ground planes of each line. FGC lines have approximately 8 dB lower coupling than coupled coplanar waveguides (CPW). In addition, forward and backward characteristics of the FGC lines do not resemble those of other transmission lines such as microstrip. Therefore, the coupling mechanism of the FGC lines is different compared to thin film microstrip lines.

Ponchak, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Polyimide Aerogel Thin Films

Polyimide aerogels have been crosslinked through multifunctional amines. This invention builds on "Polyimide Aerogels With Three-Dimensional Cross-Linked Structure," and may be considered as a continuation of that invention, which results in a polyimide aerogel with a flexible, formable form. Gels formed from polyamic acid solutions, end-capped with anhydrides, and cross-linked with the multifunctional amines, are chemically imidized and dried using supercritical CO2 extraction to give aerogels having density around 0.1 to 0.3 g/cubic cm. The aerogels are 80 to 95% porous, and have high surface areas (200 to 600 sq m/g) and low thermal conductivity (as low as 14 mW/m-K at room temperature). Notably, the cross-linked polyimide aerogels have higher modulus than polymer-reinforced silica aerogels of similar density, and can be fabricated as both monoliths and thin films.

Meador, Mary Ann↗
NASA NTRS2015

Porous Cross-Linked Polyimide Networks

Porous cross-linked polyimide networks are provided. The networks comprise an anhydride end-capped polyamic acid oligomer. The oligomer (i) comprises a repeating unit of a dianhydride and a diamine and terminal anhydride groups, (ii) has an average degree of polymerization of 10 to 50, (iii) has been cross-linked via a cross-linking agent, comprising three or more amine groups, at a balanced stoichiometry of the amine groups to the terminal anhydride groups, and (iv) has been chemically imidized to yield the porous cross-linked polyimide network. Also provided are porous cross-linked polyimide aerogels comprising a cross-linked and imidized anhydride end-capped polyamic acid oligomer, wherein the oligomer comprises a repeating unit of a dianhydride and a diamine, and the aerogel has a density of 0.10 to 0.333 g/cm.sup.3 and a Young's modulus of 1.7 to 102 MPa. Also provided are thin films comprising aerogels, and methods of making porous cross-linked polyimide networks.

Meador, Mary Ann B.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Increased Flexibility in Polyimide Aerogel Substrates for Conformal, Lightweight Antennas

Polyimide aerogels are desirable for many aerospace applications due to their high porosity, low density, low thermal conductivity, and superior mechanical properties. They have also been demonstrated as lightweight substrates for antennas since they possess very low dielectric constants, approaching one as density decreases. Increasing the flexibility of the aerogel would allow them to be used as conformal antennas for use on aerospace vehicles, leading to significant space and weight savings. In this research, we demonstrate that the flexibility can be increased depending on the polyimide oligomer backbone structures. We have substituted up to 75 mol % of the aromatic diamines typically used in polyimide aerogels with 1, 3-bis (4-aminophenoxy)-2, 2-dimethylpropane (BAPN). Twenty different formulations of polyimide aerogels were synthesized from 3,3',4,4'-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and a combination of BAPN and 2,2'-dimethylbenxidine (DMBZ) and cross-linked with 1, 3, 5 triaminophenoxybenzene (TAB). The polymer concentration, n-value, and molar concentration of BAPN and DMBZ were varied to determine an ideal formulation that has both a high bend radius and low dielectric constant. With only aromatic diamines in the backbone, the aerogels are flexible only as very thin films, nominally 0.5 mm thick. Samples containing at least 25 mol % BAPN have higher flexibility in substrates as thick as 2-3 mm and dielectric constants ranging from 1.11-1.26.

Cashman, Jessica↗
NASA NTRS2014

Polyimide Cellulose Nanocrystal Composite Aerogels

Polyimide (PI) aerogels are highly porous solids having low density, high porosity and low thermal conductivity with good mechanical properties. They are ideal for various applications including use in antenna and insulation such as inflatable decelerators used in entry, decent and landing operations. Recently, attention has been focused on stimuli responsive materials such as cellulose nano crystals (CNCs). CNCs are environmentally friendly, bio-renewable, commonly found in plants and the dermis of sea tunicates, and potentially low cost. This study is to examine the effects of CNC on the polyimide aerogels. The CNC used in this project are extracted from mantle of a sea creature called tunicates. A series of polyimide cellulose nanocrystal composite aerogels has been fabricated having 0-13 wt of CNC. Results will be discussed.

Aerogels↗
NASA NTRS2014

Flexible Polyimide Aerogel Cross-linked by Poly(maleic Anhydride-alt-alkylene)

Aerogels are potential materials for aerospace applications due to their lower thermal conductivity, lighter weight, and low dielectric constant. However, silica aerogels are restricted due to their inherent fragility, hygroscopic nature, and poor mechanical properties, especially in extreme aerospace environments. In order to fit the needs of aerospace applications, developing new thermal insulation materials that are flexible, and moisture resistant is needed. To this end, we fabricated a series of polyimide aerogels crosslinked with different poly(maleic anhydride-alt-alkylene)s as seen in Scheme 1. The polyimide oligomers were made with 3,3,4,4-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA), and different diamines or diamine combinations. The resulting aerogels have low density (0.06 gcm3 to 0.16 gcm3) and high surface area (240-440 m2g). The effect of the different backbone structures on density, shrinkage, porosity, surface area, mechanical properties, moisture resistance and thermal properties will be discussed. These novel polyalkylene-imide aerogels may be potential candidates for applications such as space suit insulation for planetary surface missions, insulation for inflatable structures for habitats, inflatable aerodynamic decelerators for entry, descent and landing (EDL) operations, and cryotank insulation for advance space propulsion systems. Scheme 1. Network of polyimide aerogels crosslinked with deifferent poly(maleic anhydride).

cross-link↗
NASA NTRS2019

Synthesis and Performance of 6FDA-Based Polyimide-Ionenes and Composites with Ionic Liquids as Gas Separation Membranes

Three new isomeric 6FDA-based polyimide-ionenes, with imidazolium moieties and varying regiochemistry (para-, meta-, and ortho- connectivity), and composites with three different ionic liquids (ILs) have been developed as gas separation membranes. The structural-property relationships and gas separation behaviors of the newly developed 6FDA polyimide-ionene + IL composites have been extensively studied. All the 6FDA-based polyimide-ionenes exhibited good compatibility with the ILs and produced homogeneous hybrid membranes with the high thermal stability of ~380 °C. Particularly, [6FDA I4A pXy][Tf2N] ionene + IL hybrids having [C4mim][Tf2N] and [Bnmim][Tf2N] ILs offered mechanically stable matrixes with high CO2 affinity. The permeability of CO2 was increased by factors of 2 and 3 for C4mim and Bnmim hybrids (2.15 to 6.32 barrers), respectively, compared to the neat [6FDA I4A pXy][Tf2N] without sacrificing their permselectivity for CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 gas pairs.

Ionenes↗
NASA NTRS2020

Flexible Polyimide Aerogels Derived From Use of Neopentyl Spacer in Backbone

Polyimide aerogels have gained much attention in the last decade due to their highly porous structure with low density, low dielectric constant, good mechanical properties and thermal stability. They are desirable for many aerospace and commercial applications including lightweight substrates for antennas for aerospace vehicles, due to the low dielectric constant, approaching one as density decreases. However, with only aromatic diamines in the backbone, the aerogels are flexible only as very thin films, nominally 0.5 mm thick. A more flexible aerogel substrate would allow them to be used as conformal antennas, which would reduce drag and also save space in aerospace vehicles. In this research, we demonstrate that the flexibility can be increased by substituting the aromatic diamines typically used in polyimide aerogels with 1,3-bis(4-aminophenoxy)-2, 2-dimethylpropane (BAPN), which contains a flexible neopentyl spacer group. Using the aliphatic diamine, BAPN, leads to aerogels with a high bend radius even when the aerogels are 2-3 mm thick. Twenty different formulations of polyimide aerogels were synthesized from 3,3’,4,4’-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and a combination of BAPN and 2,2’-dimethylbenxidine (DMBZ), and cross-linked with 1,3,5-triaminophenoxybenzene (TAB) to understand the effect of polymer concentration, oligomer chain length and concentration of BAPN on the properties of the aerogels. Aerogels made using 50 mol % BAPN with n of 45 and 7 wt % polymer possessed the best combination of properties conducive to use as a flexible substrate for conformal antennas, including low density, good hydrophobicity, low shrinkage with high surface area, a one-inch bend radius in aerogels up to 3 mm thickness, and a dielectric constant of 1.11.

polyimide aerogels↗
DOE OSTI2026

Molecular-Level Insights into the Influence of Ionic Liquids on the Structure and Dynamics of Neutral and Charged Polyimides

We use all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to investigate how increasing ionic functionalization influences polyimide (PI) behavior in ionic liquid (IL) solvation environments. Here, we examine three polymer systems with varying charge densities: a neutral polyimide [N−PI] containing imidazole rings and progressively introduce charge through quaternization to create singly [C−PI] + and doubly charged [C−2PI] 2+ variants across a wide range of IL concentration (0−90 wt %). Through comprehensive structural, mechanical, and electrostatic analyses, we reveal that polymer charge density plays a central role in shaping IL organization and interaction with the polymer matrix. At low IL content, charged systems exhibit strong electrostatic complexation, leading to chain compaction, localized ESP environments, and elevated dielectric constants. As IL concentration increases, the effect of the different polymer charge states becomes less significant. Notably, an intermediate composition regime at approximately 50 wt % IL is associated with changes in IL-rich domain connectivity and overall system behavior across all three PI systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Adhesively Bonded Copper and Polyimide for Flexible Printed Circuit Boards: A Data-Driven Degradation Study Under Accelerated Aging

The long-term durability of polyimide laminated adhesive based flexible printed circuit boards (PCBs) is critical to the microelectronics industry. The interface of the adhesive layer binding the polyimide and copper layers is particularly vulnerable since decreased bonding strength can lead to deadhesion, performance loss, and premature device failure. Here, in this study, adhesive-bonded polyimide and copper samples are subjected to 1000 h of damp heat exposure (85 °C/85%RH) to evaluate the impact of moisture and copper inclusion on the adhesive bonding performance. Significant copper diffusion through the adhesive layer is observed, which, combined with moisture uptake, is found to substantially weaken interfacial adhesion in copper-containing samples, thereby reducing device lifetime. Observed surface and bulk material changes are correlated to adhesion strength using the network structural equation modeling (netSEM) approach, resulting in a robust predictive model of performance degradation based on measurable materials properties.

Chemistry↗
NASA NTRS1973

Processable high temperature resistant addition type polyimide laminating resins

Basic studies that were performed using model compounds to elucidate the polymerization mechanism of the so-called addition-type (A-type) polyimides are reviewed. The fabrication and properties of polyimide/graphite fiber composites using A-type polyimide prepolymers as the matrix are also reviewed. An alternate method for preparing processable A-type polyimides by means of in situ polymerization of monomer reactants (PMR) on the fiber reinforcement is described. The elevated temperature properties of A-type PMR/graphite fiber composites are also presented.

Serafini, T. T.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Development and evaluation of polyimide laminates for printed wiring board applications

A developmental and evaluation program on polyimide laminates as printed wiring boards is described. The development of an experimental polyimide with low linear coefficient of thermal expansion normal to the plane of the board is discussed, and its properties are evaluated along with two commercial polyimide printed wiring boards for comparison with the type G-10 epoxy board. Thermal cycling data indicate an urgent need for effectively controlling the expansion normal to the plane of the board in order to minimize solder joint damage.

Patterson, W. J.↗
NASA NTRS1973

The hydrolysis of polyimides

Thermal polymerization of aspartic acid produces a polysuccinimide (I), a chain of aspartoyl residues. An investigation was made of the alkaline hydrolysis of the imide rings of (I) which converts the polyimide to a polypeptide. The alkaline hydrolysis of polyimides can be expected to be kinetically complex due to increasing negative charge generated by carboxylate groups. For this reason, a diimide, phthaloyl-DL-aspartoyl-beta-alanine (IIA) was synthesized for a progressive study of the hydrolysis of polyimides. In addition, this diimide (IIA) can be related to thalidomide and might be expected to exhibit similar reactivity during hydrolysis of the phthalimide ring.

Hoagland, P. D.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Prototype rigid polyimide components

The activity is reported which was conducted for utilizing spin-off Apollo base technology to fabricate a variety of commercial and aerospace related parts that are nonflammable and resistant to high-temperature degradation. Manufacturing techniques and the tooling used to fabricate each of the polyimide/glass structures is discussed. A brief history, tracing the development of high-temperature polyimide resins, is presented along with a discussion of the properties of DuPont's PI 2501/glass material (later redesignated PI 4701/glass). Mechanical and flammability properties of DuPont's PI 2501/glass laminates are compared with epoxy, phenolic, and silicone high-temperature resin/glass material systems. Offgassing characteristics are also presented. A discussion is included of the current developments in polyimide materials technology and the potential civilian and government applications of polyimide materials to reduce fire hazards and increase the survivability of men and equipment.

Wykes, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Graphite-fiber-reinforced polyimide liners of various compositions in plain spherical bearings

A plain spherical bearing design with a ball diameter of 28.6 mm, a race length of 12.7 mm, and a 1.7-mm-thick, molded composite liner was evaluated. The liner material is a self-lubricating composite of graphite-fiber-reinforced polyimide resin (GFRPI). The liner is prepared by transfer molding a mixture of one part chopped graphite fiber and one part partially polymerized resin into the space between the bearing ball and the outer race and then completing the polymerization under heat and pressure. Several liner compositions were evaluated: two types of polyimide, condensation and addition; two types of graphite fiber, low and high modulus; and four powder additives - cadmium oxide, cadmium iodide, graphite fluoride, and molybdenum disulfide. The bearings were oscillated + or - 15 deg at 1 Hz for 20 kilocycles under a radial unit load of 29 MN sq m (4200 psi) in dry air at 25, 200, or 315 C. Both types of fiber and polyimide gave low friction and wear. A simple equation was developed to fit the wear-time data and adequately predicted wear to 100 kilocycles.

Sliney, H. E.↗