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High Glass Transition Temperature Fluoropolymers for Hydrophobic Surface Coatings via RAFT Copolymerization

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 19:55 authored by Rowe, M, Teo, GH, Henry HorneHenry Horne, Al-Khayat, O, Neto, C, Stuart ThickettStuart Thickett
The preparation of polymer thin films or surface coatings that display a static water contact angle >95° often requires hierarchical roughness features or surface functionalization steps. In addition, inherently hydrophobic polymers such as fluoropolymers often possess low glass transition temperatures, reducing their application where thermal stability is required. Herein, the first reported synthesis of 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorostyrene (PFS) and N-phenylmaleimide (NMI) via reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT)-mediated free radical polymerization is presented, with a view towards the preparation of inherently hydrophobic polymers with a high glass transition temperature. A suite of copolymers were prepared and characterized, and owing to the inherent rigidity of the maleimide group in the polymer backbone and π–π interactions between adjacent PFS and NMI groups, very high glass transition temperatures were achieved (up to 180°C). The copolymerization of N-pentafluorophenylmaleimide was also performed, also resulting in extremely high glass transition temperature copolymers; however, these polymers did not exhibit characteristics of being under RAFT control. Thin films of PFS-NMI copolymers exhibited a static contact angle ~100°, essentially independent of the amount of NMI incorporated into the polymer.

History

Publication title

Australian Journal of Chemistry

Volume

69

Issue

7

Pagination

725-734

ISSN

0004-9425

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

CSIRO Publishing

Place of publication

Australia

Rights statement

Journal compilation Copyright CSIRO 2016

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the chemical sciences

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