Design and synthesis of poly(arylene ether sulfone)s with high glass transition temperature by introducing biphenylene groups

Two novel poly(arylene ether sulfone)s with high biphenylene content (BDS‐PES and BDS‐PDBES) are prepared by nucleophilic substitution polymerization of synthesized 4,4′‐bis(4‐hydroxyphenyl)diphenyl sulfone (BDS) with 4,4′‐sulfonylbis(fluorobenzene) and 4,4‐bis[(4‐chlorophenyl)sulfonyl], respectively. The prepared polymers show high glass transition temperature and excellent high‐temperature mechanical properties. The glass transition temperature of BDS‐PDBES with higher biphenylene content is as high as 300 °C, and BDS‐PDBES can still maintain its 30% storage modulus at 295 °C. In addition, the two novel polymers also show excellent thermal stability ( T d5 = 526 °C), high elongation at break ( ε  ≈ 20%), good tensile strength (73 MPa) and modulus (1.73 GPa) and good thermal conductivity ( λ 300°C = 0.28 W ·m −1  ·K −1 ).