Synthesis and characterization of styrene-based polyfluoroacrylate film for hydrophobic/icephobic applications

Low surface energy polymeric materials always attract great interest due to their effective non-stick feature when contacting with other materials. In the present work, hydrophobic polyfluoroacrylates (PFAs) were synthesized using styrene, acrylic acid, and heptafluorobutyl acrylate via radical polymerization. The synthesized PFA emulsions had a relatively low curing temperature (e.g. 80 degrees C), and different molar ratios of heptafluorobutyl acrylate were used to vary the fluorine content in the PFAs. From chemical analysis by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance, it was found that the synthesized PFA emulsion exhibited co-polymer structure consisting of the three monomer units. PFA films were deposited on aluminium substrates by spin coating of the synthesized emulsions. The hydrophobicity of the films varied with the fluorine content, and a maximum water contact angle of 121 degrees was achieved under relatively smooth surface condition. Ice adhesion of the PFA films was also evaluated using a centrifugal method, and the ice adhesion strength decreased with the increase of the fluorine content in PFA