A Novel PEEK Foam with Ultra‐High Temperature‐Resistant by Temperature Induced Phase Separation

Abstract

Abstract Polyaryletherketone is a kind of special engineering plastics with excellent comprehensive properties, high strength, good stability, and almost insoluble in any common solvent except concentrated sulfuric acid at room temperature. However, its high processing temperature also hinders its application and development in the foam. Here, a series of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and diphenyl polyetheretherketone (PEDEK) composite foams are prepared by temperature induced phase separation, using diphenyl sulfone as solvent. The microstructure, thermal and mechanical properties of PEEK and PEDEK foam are compared. Highly porous PEEK and PEDEK foams with densities ranging from 0.13 to 0.25 g cm−3, with compressive strength ranging from 0.68 to 2.6 MPa, respectively, are produced. Meanwhile, the introduction of diphenyl structure can effectively improve the performance of PEEK foams at high temperature. It is found that PEDEK foam has a higher operating temperature than PEEK, and the compressive strength of 0.24 g cm−3 foam is still ≈1 MPa at 200 °C.

Keywords

• diphenyl polyetheretherketone (PEDEK)
• high performance foams
• low density
• polyetheretherketone (PEEK)
• temperature induced phase separation (TIPS)