Solid-State Polymerization of Polyarylate Oligomer Starting from the Bisphenol A Diacetate and Terephthalic/Isophthalic Acids

Bisphenol A polyarylate is known as an amorphous high performance polymer with excellent properties. Though the polyarylate composed of bisphenol A and terephthalic/isophthalic acids is an amorphous polymer, we found that the polyarylate oligomer crystallized when the swelled oligomer gel was contacted with acetone. Solid-state polymerization of the crystallized polyarylate proceeded at a much lower temperature than that for the melt condensation. This solid-state polymerization process supplies us the new route for the production of polyarylate with excellent color.