Synthesis and properties of fluorinated telechelic macromolecular diols prepared by radical grafting of fluorinated thiols onto hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes

The radical grafting of C_nF_{2n +1} CH₂CH₂SH (n = 6,8) onto the double bonds of hydroxyl-terminated liquid polybutadienes (HTPBD) was studied. Various methods for investigating the amount of grafting (titration of residual thiol and fluorine analysis) were used and compared. The nature and the amount of the initiator, the quantity of thiol, the temperature and the time of the reaction. the solvent, and the microstructure of HTPBD were optimized. The kinetic aspect showed that the thiol disappeared according to a first-norder law. A method using up to 100% of grafting fluorinated mercaptan was described and standards were set up with fluorine contents of 5–59% to evaluate the physicochemical properties of these thioether group-containing polymers: solubility, refractive index, intrinsic and dynamic viscosities, and thermal characteristics (glass transition and decomposition temperatures). Finally, the surface properties of these standards showed improvements of surface energy as low as 9 mN m^?1 for a totally saturated fluorinated HTPBD. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.