| Abstract
| - We have prepared new trifluorovinyl ether (TFVE) polymers and copolymers that haveoligoether hydrocarbon pendant groups, providing facilitated processability and increased solubility incommon organic solvents than commercially available fluoropolymers. In particular, we synthesized homo-and copolymers by a redox-initiated emulsion polymerization with 1-[2-(2-ethoxy-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-1,2,2-trifluoroethene (Et-TFVE) and 1-[2-(2-tertiary-butoxy-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-1,2,2-trifluoroethene (t-Bu-TFVE).The tert-butyl group is a protected alcohol, which, upon removal, provides a reactive handle for furthermodification after polymerization. The monomers, which appeared to have similar reactivity, controlledthe copolymer composition. Polymers were prepared with Mw's as high as 40 000 and polydispersitiesfrom approximately 2 to 3. Poly(Et-TFVE) was more thermally stable than poly(t-Bu-TFVE) as determinedby thermogravimetric analysis. The polymers had similar glass-transition temperatures (Tg's) ofapproximately −60 °C; however, Tg increased with hydroxyl (i.e., TFVE-OH) content to +9 °C, as a resultof hydrogen-bonding interactions. The hydroxyl functional groups of a TFVE-OH copolymer were modifiedwith 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate to form a cross-linked polymer film, thereby demonstrating thepotential utility of these functionalized polymers in coatings applications.
|
