Access to Fluorinated Polymer Surfaces with Outstanding Mechanical Property, High Optical Transparency, and Low Surface Energy via Nonafluoro-tert-Butyl Group Introduction

Poly(methyl methacrylate- co -2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) was fluorinated using nonafluoro- tert -butanol (p K a = 5.2), and the content of incorporated nonafluoro- tert -butyl (NFtB) groups was controlled by adjustment of the monomer ratio. The developed technique was very efficient, achieving an almost quantitative (>98%) conversion of polymer hydroxyl groups under mild reaction conditions. Quantum chemical calculations showed that the dipole moment of the methyl methacrylate unit (1.77 D) increased to 3.21 D upon NFtB group attachment, which indicated a concomitant polarity increase. The surface composition, intermolecular distances, and mechanical properties of polymer films were profoundly affected by fluorination, i.e., fluorinated polymer films exhibited outstanding mechanical property (indentation modulus ≈ 7.3 GPa), high optical transparency (∼96% for a glass slide coated on bo…