Abstract
Maleimides are attractive systems for photopolymerize for two major reasons: (1) they follow a radical mechanism without requiring a photoinitiator and (2) their rate of polymerization corresponds similarly to acrylates, which are commonplace in the industry. In this work, bismaleimide polypropylene oxide was cured under UV light forming thin films. Their surface properties were modified by copolymerization them with fluorinated comonomers. To this goal, perfluoropolyalkylethers (PFPAEs) with maleimide groups were synthesized, varying their chain structure, their functionality degree and consequently their intrinsic viscosity. These PFPPAE comonomers were highlighted to segregate at the surface, assuring omniphobic properties and acting as a protective layer against oxygen inhibition. These phenomenon were observed even when added at a concentration ≤5% w/w with respect to the main polypropylene oxide monomer. XPS analyses confirmed the segregation of the fluorine atoms at the surface during the UV-curing process of the coatings.
Highlights
Photoinduced polymerizations are green processes suitable for the sustainable synthesis of polymers (Bowman and Kloxin, 2008; Yagci et al, 2010; Corrigan et al, 2019)
The commercial bismaleimide poly(propylene oxide) (Mn∼400 g/mol) called bismaleimide poly(propylene oxide) resin (BMI PPO) was purchased from Specific Polymers (France)
The monofunctional fluorinated monomaleimide (MMI) containing hexafluoropropyleneoxide units was synthesized as reported in a previous paper (Bonneaud et al, 2019)
Summary
Photoinduced polymerizations are green processes suitable for the sustainable synthesis of polymers (Bowman and Kloxin, 2008; Yagci et al, 2010; Corrigan et al, 2019) They are bulk processes (without solvent) which require low amount of energy as they occur at room temperature. Tailoring the surface of UV-cured polymers while keeping the bulk properties unchanged is possible by introducing a small amount of a surface-active comonomer in the reactive formulation (Vitale et al, 2018; Wasser et al, 2018) This approach has been widely applied to acrylic, vinyl ether, epoxy systems using fluorinated comonomers (Vitale et al, 2015; Wasser et al, 2018). Their impact on the polymerization kinetics and on the surface properties of the coatings was examined
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