Synthesis of durable hydrophobic fluorinated polyurethanes with exceptional cavitation erosion resistance

Abstract

This study prepared a series of fluorinated polyurethane (FPU) with different fluorine content via changing the content of hydroxy-terminated liquid fluorine elastomer (LFH) for achieving good cavitation erosion resistance. The results showed that the FPU samples had much superior hydrophobicity, thermal stability, mechanical properties, and cavitation erosion resistance compared to the polyurethane (PU). The FPU synthesised from 20 % LFH exhibited the best properties, and its erosion rate during cavitation erosion was only 26.3 % of the PU. In addition, the simulation results suggest that the fluorine-containing soft segments in FPU were responsible for the improved properties because these soft segments would not be subjected to hydrolysis and exhibited good stability at a high temperature.