Hydrophobic properties of poly(arylene ether)s derived from linear polydimethysiloxanes and decafluorobiphenyl

ABSTRACT A series of novel poly(arylene ether)s were synthesized with diphenol liner polydimethysiloxanes with different silicon numbers (2OH‐PDMS‐P; P = 2, 6, 10, 12, 16) and decafluorobiphenyl via a two‐step nucleophilic substitution polymerization. The chemical structures of the polymers were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, 19F‐NMR and 1H‐NMR spectra. All the polymers provided outstanding hydrophobic properties, high thermal stability and good solubility. The water contact angle (WCA) first increased and then suddenly decreased with the increasing of silicon numbers in PDMS. The highest WCA about 112° was obtained when silicon numbers was ten. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46187.