The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Polyimide foams (PIFs) are widely utilized as thermal insulators in aerospace, marine, and high-temperature systems due to their outstanding thermal stability, flame resistance, and low density. In this work, we introduce a simple and cost-effective fabrication strategy for PIFs based on an isocyanate-anhydride system. This approach eliminates the need for high-cost diamine monomers and enables scalable processing without external blowing agents. The resulting foams exhibit a homogeneous porous structure with tunable density and mechanical properties governed by the chemical structure and crosslinking degree of the polyimide network, confirming the formation of stable imide linkages and open-cell morphologies. These PIFs can maintain insulation performance at elevated temperatures, suggesting their potential for use as lightweight, high-performance thermal barrier materials in extreme environments.