Solubility, Emulsification and Surface Properties of Maleic Anhydride, Perfluorooctyl and Alkyl Meth-Acrylate Terpolymers.

Marian Szkudlarek,Uwe Beginn,Helmut Keul,Martin Möller

doi:10.3390/polym10010037

Abstract

The solubility of terpolymers containing alkyl, and perfluoroalkyl side chains as well as succinic acid moieties in the main chain, P[RFMA0.2-co-RHMA0.65-co-MAH0.15] (RH = C4H9- or C12H25-, RF- = C10H4F19-) with ca. 20 mol % fluorinated side chains and 10–22 mol % of succinic anhydride rings was tested in a number of solvents varying from water to non polar mineral oils. The polymers are well soluble in fluorinated solvents like Freon-113® and 1,3-bis(trifluoromethyl) benzene, in semi-polar solvents like chloroform, THF or lower esters and also in hydrocarbons with polymers containing dodecyl methacrylate. In self-emulsification experiments, a stable water emulsion of P[F8H2MA0.2-co-BMA0.65-co-MAH0.15] was obtained. The dispersability and emulsification of these polymers in mixtures of organic solvents and water yielded stable emulsions in the presence of additional surfactant. Thin films coated from organic solutions as well as from emulsions on glass resulted in water and oil-repelling surfaces with contact angles up to 140° against water and 71° against hexadecane. An enhancing effect of annealing was not observed.

Highlights

Copolymers with perfluorinated building blocks are desired materials because of their unique properties
The effect of the length-ratio of alkyl- to perfluoroalkyl side chains on the stratification process should become visible by comparison of co-MAH0.1 ] (C1) and C2 (n-butyl) with C3 (n-dodecyl side chains)
RF = C10 H4 F19 -) containing ca. 20 mol % of fluorinated monomer units can be dissolved in semi solvents like tetrahydrofuran, chloroform or ethyl acetate to give more than 20 wt % solutions

Summary

Introduction

Copolymers with perfluorinated building blocks are desired materials because of their unique properties. One of the most important properties of fluorinated materials is their low surface energy, which allows employing them as water, oil and soil repelling coatings [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Perfluorinated coatings can be prepared by casting of (i) solutions in organic solvents; (ii) of aqueous polymer emulsions and (iii) of water based solutions/dispersions. The most preferred situation would be the application of a perfluorinated copolymer dissolved or dispersed in pure water, which is the most convenient solution from an economic and environmental point of view. The basic idea of forming amphiphilic terpolymer consisting of maleic anhydride and long aliphatic side chain methacrylate has been reported before [9], and a very limited number of publications are found reporting successful self-emulsification of fluorinated polymers in water [1]

Methods

Results

Conclusion