TABLE OF CONTENTS Polyarylethersulfones (PAES), also known as sulfone polymers or simply polysulfones, are a class of amorphous high-temperature, high-performance thermoplastic polymers. The polymers have an aromatic backbone structure comprised of phenyl rings, sulfone groups, and ether linkages, hence the name polyarylethersulfones. The para-linked diaryl sulfone moiety is the most distinguishing structural feature of a polyarylethersulfone:
These polymers are a subclass of the larger family of engineering polymers known as polyarylethers that includes polyarylethersulfones, polyaryletherketones, and polyaryletherimides.
The first of the sulfone polymers was introduced commercially by Union Carbide Corp. in 1965 as Udel Polysulfone, and it carries the following repeat unit structure:
It was produced by using the aromatic nucleophilic polycondensation reaction of bisphenol A with 4,4 ?-dichlorodiphenylsulfone, a process still used today by the commercial producers of this polymer. This polymer, known as polysulfone (PSF), has a glass transition temperature of about 185 C. It is the oldest and most widely utilized member of the family of sulfone polymers. Polysulfone and all the commercially available sulfone polymers are completely amorphous and transparent in their natural state. They have high glass transition temperatures T g ranging from 185 to 265 C. The high heat resistance derived from the high T g's, along with the high thermal oxidative resistance derived from the aromatic backbone structure, allows use of these polymers in demanding high-performance applications where high temperatures are encountered for long durations. In...
