Recent investigations into the cross-linking and gelation of polyamides to make aerogels have revealed that properties such as high porosity, surface area, and Young's modulus can be accessed through the use of widely available and inexpensive aromatic diamines and diacid chlorides. As part of our ongoing investigations into the design and synthesis of step-growth polyamide aerogels, we report here the synthesis and properties of materials made using aromatic diamines and aliphatic diacid chlorides. Adipoyl or sebacoyl chloride are reacted with m-phenylenediamine in solution at room temperature in order to generate amine end-capped oligomers. Gelation is induced by the addition of 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl trichloride. Solvent exchange of the resulting gels into acetone followed by supercritical CO2 extraction provides polyamide aerogels with porosities around 90% and densities as low as 0.14 g/cm3. These materials are attractive for use as highly insulating materials for deployable structures, habitats and extravehicular activity suits. This investigation focuses mainly on the impact that formulation parameters such as n value and solids concentration have on properties such as porosity, surface area and compressive modulus.

Synthesis and properties of porous polyamide aerogels with flexible aliphatic segments

248th National Meeting (2014)

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