Preparation of Fluorine-Containing Block Copolymers and Their Solubility Characteristics

Fluorine-containing block copolymers, P (alkyl methacrylate) -block-P (perfluoroalkyl acrylate), were prepared by two-step polymerization using a polymeric peroxide. P (alkyl methacrylate, M1) having O-O bonds in the polymer chain was prepared by the polymerization of M1 in MEK with a polymeric peroxide. Each polymer chain has about 1.3 O-O bonds which correspond to about 40% of the O-O bonds in the used polymeric peroxide. The peroxide O-O bonds principally located at the end of polymer chains. The second monomer, perfluoroalkyl acrylate (M2) was polymerized with above mentioned P (alkyl methacrylate) to give PM1-block-PM2. Successive polymerization of alkyl and perfluoroalkyl (metha) acrylate of 50/50 wt% gave a mixture of PM1-block-PM2 48, PM1, 21, and PM2 31. Polymer was obtained as a dispersion and the particle size was 0.05=0.1μm. The particle size was affected by the ratio of monomer feed and the type of solvent. It was the smallest in the solvents whose SP were as follows: δd=7.45-7.65, δp=3-5, δh=2.5-5.