Polyether ether ketone, and method for purification of polymer material

A polyether ether ketone having a repeating unit represented by the following formula (1):

• —Ar—C(═O)—Ar—O—Ar′—O— (1)
• wherein, Ar and Ar′ may be the same or different, and represent a substituted or unsubstituted phenylene group,
• the polyether ether ketone comprising:
• (A) a polymerization component having a molecular weight of not lower than 5,000 and lower than 2,000,000;
• and
• (B) a polymerization component having a molecular weight of not lower than 1,000 and lower than 5,000, wherein:
• the weight ratio of (A):(B) is 60:40 to 97:3;
• the content of (C) a polymerization component having a molecular weight of not lower than 100 and lower than 1,000 is from 0 and less than 0.2% by weight based on the total weight of the component (A), the component (B) and the component (C);
• the polyether ether ketone exhibits a multimodal molecular weight distribution with a maximum peak molecular weight falling within the range of not lower than 5,000 and lower than 2,000,000;
• and
• the inherent viscosity of a solution containing the polyether ether ketone in conc. sulfuric acid at a concentration of 0.1 g/dL is not less than 0.4 dL/g.