Synthesis of fluorinated urethane acrylate based UV-curable coatings

Abstract

In the present work fluorinated urethane-acrylate (FUA) monomer was firstly prepared based on isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), 3,5-bis(perfluorobenzyl)oxy benzyl alcohol (FOH) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) via in situ method. The obtained novel fluorinated urethane-acrylate was characterized by 1H NMR spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The UV-curable polyurethane-acrylate (UV-PUA) formulation was prepared with oligomers, polyurethane-acrylate (PUA) or epoxy acrylate (EA), monomers (FUA, HDDA and TPGDA) and photoinitiator, Darocur 1173. UV-curable clear coatings were applied on plexiglass and teflon substrates. The physical and mechanical properties of UV-cured coatings such as gel content, solvent resistance, hardness, gloss, flexibility and tensile tests were examined. Also thermal degradation behavior of coatings was also evaluated by thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis. Contact angle measurements of water and ethylene glycol on films of coatings have shown that the addition of fluorinated polyurethane-acrylate precursor to the system improved the water repellency and increased the contact angle from 72° to 104°.