Journal of Polymer Science
Journal of Polymer Science
4 years ago

Designing superhydrophobic surface based on fluoropolymer–silica nanocomposite via RAFT-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly

Designing superhydrophobic surface based on fluoropolymer–silica nanocomposite via RAFT-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly
Nikhil K. Singha, Siva Ponnupandian, Arindam Chakrabarty, Nam-Goo Kang, Jimmy W. Mays
Superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS) find versatile applications as coatings due to their very high water-repellency, self-cleaning, and anti-icing properties. This investigation describes the preparation of a SHS from surfactant-free hybrid fluoropolymer latex. In this case, reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization was adopted to prepare a copolymer of 4-vinyl pyridine (4VP) and vinyl triethoxysilane (VTES), where the pyridine units were quaternized to make the copolymer soluble in water. The copolymer was further used as a macro-RAFT agent to polymerize 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate (TFEMA) in a surfactant-free emulsion via polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). The macro-RAFT agent contained a small amount of VTES as co-monomer which was utilized to graft silica nanoparticles (SNPs) onto the P(TFEMA) spheres. The film prepared using the nanocomposite latex exhibited a nano-structured surface as observed by SEM and AFM analyses. Surface modification of the film with fluorinated trichlorosilane produced an SHS with a water contact angle (WCA) of 151.5°. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 Superhydrophobicity in polymers can be obtained by the incorporation of nanostructures to the surface. This study reveals an approach to achieve the same via the emulsion polymerization of fluoromonomer through polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA), using a functional macro-RAFT agent followed by grafting of nanosilica. The macro-RAFT agent contained small amount of ethoxysilane functionalities that reacted with nanosilica to graft them around the fluoropolymer spheres. The resulting nano-structured polymer showed very high water contact angle (151.5°).

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/pola.28883

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