Controlled Synthesis, Characterization and Application of Novel Functional Fluorinated Polymer By Metal-Free Anionic Polymerization

Abstract

A well-defined block polymer, di-n-butyl ester terminated poly(2,2,3,4,4,4-hexafluorobutyl methacrylate (BTHFMA), was synthesized by the metal-free anionic polymerization. The tetrabutylammonium salt of di-n-butyl malonate was served as functional carbanionic initiator for the anionic polymerization of 2,2,3,4,4,4-hexafluorobutyl methacrylate in a controlled ‘living’ manner for the first time at ambient temperature. The chemical structure of this product was characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) results showed that the molecular weight of BTHFMA ranged from 1025 to 6582 and the molecular weight distributions were fairly narrow (Mw/Mn = 1.12–1.16). By blending the poly(methyl methacrylate-co-butyl acrylate) [P(MMA-co-BA)] with BTHFMA, we minimized the amount of the BTHFMA used while achieving a hydrophobic surface. The surface properties and compositions of the [P(MMA-co-BA)]/BTHFMA blend films were studied by contact angle and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results demonstrated that the 5 wt% blends of BTHFMA could obviously increase hydrophobic ability of the blend with a high water contact angle (98.2o) and low surface energy (24.2mN/m). XPS results indicated the fluorine mass content of the surface of the 5 wt% blend was up to 26.6%, which suggested BTHFMA enriched on the surface of the blend.