Polyimide foam (PI) has excellent performance and good future application prospects

​​ ​​Polyimide foam, referred to as PI foam, is a new foam material generated through the polymerization and foaming reaction of polyimide prepolymer and foaming agent, stabilizer and other additives. Polyimide foam has the advantages of radiation resistance, environmental protection, non-toxic, light weight, and flame retardant. It is widely used in high-tech fields such as aerospace, microelectronics, and ocean transportation. According to different structural characteristics, polyimide foam can be divided into two types: side chain polyimide foam and main chain polyimide foam.

There are many types of polyimide foam synthesis methods, including closed mold powder method, paste method, extrusion method, slurry method, solvent swelling method, powder method, etc. The solvent swelling method is the mainstream synthesis method of polyimide foam. First, organic solvents such as acetone are added to the polyimide monomer for swelling, and then other additives are used to heat and foam the polyimide foam, and finally the polyimide foam is produced. In terms of synthesis routes, at present, the main synthesis routes of polyimide foam include one-step method and two-step method. The one-step method has the advantages of short preparation cycle and high yield of finished products, and is suitable for large-scale production.

The main raw material of polyimide foam is polyimide. As one of the organic polymer materials, polyimide has excellent comprehensive properties and is widely used in separation membranes, engineering plastics, foam plastics, advanced composite materials and other fields. Global polyimide production will reach 215,000 tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%. The sufficient supply of raw materials has driven the continuous increase in polyimide foam production.

​​ ​​Polyimide foam is a new type of thermal insulation and sound-absorbing material. It is widely used in high-tech fields such as aerospace, new energy vehicles, transportation rails, ships, and special insulation vehicles. In the field of aerospace, polyimide foam can be used as radar antenna protection, fuselage insulation, aircraft wire insulation, aircraft pipeline insulation and other materials; in the field of new energy vehicles, polyimide foam can be used to produce power battery insulators. Hot piece. With the rapid development of downstream industries, the market size of polyimide foam continues to expand. According to the “2023-2027 Polyimide Foam (PI) Industry In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report》shows that the global polyimide foam market will reach US$360 million in 2022, a year-on-year growth of 3.2%.

The global polyimide foam market is mainly concentrated in European and American countries. DuPont Company of the United States, Monsanto Company of the United States, and Dow Chemical Company of the United States are world-renowned polyimide foam manufacturers. In recent years, developed countries such as the United States and Japan have made many new advances in polyimide foam research.

The main polyimide foam manufacturers in my country include Changzhou Tiansheng New Materials Co., Ltd., Zigong Zhongtiansheng Chemical New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., Qingdao Ocean New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., etc. Industry analysts said that thanks to the continuous breakthroughs in the production technology of local enterprises, the industrialization process of polyimide foam in my country has continued to accelerate.