Chain folding in single crystals of tetrafluoroethylene copolymers

Molecular-mechanics calculations are performed on model folds proposed in the literature for single crystals of polytetrafluoroethylene crystallized in the phase stable below 19°C, in order to evaluate how they are modified when a fluorine atom is substituted by a bulky group, as occurs in fluorinated copolymers of tetrafluoroethylene. Only intramolecular effects are taken into account (isolated-chain model). An exhaustive analysis has been carried out of tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer. Moreover, the lower energy folds found for such a copolymer have been examined for copolymers with chlorotrifluoroethylene and perfluoroalkylvinylethers, as comonomers. Our calculations show that all the considered comonomers can be arranged in the model folds proposed for the homopolymer, according to the imposed geometric constraints.