Effect of the Structural Parameters of a Series of Fluoromonoacrylates on the Surface Properties of Cured Films

A series of fluorinated acrylates [F(CF2)q-(CH2)p-OCOCH=CH 2, where q = 8 and p = 2 ÷ 11) were synthesized and used as comonomers in the photopolymerization of acrylic systems. These fluoroacrylates were synthesized in a three-step procedure through the radical addition of perfluoroalkyliodides to an unsaturated alcohol followed by their acrylation. The mixtures, containing up to 0.8% (w/w) of the comonomers, produced transparent films after UV curing, they showed changes in the surface properties as a function of the comonomer type and concentration. With contact-angle and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses, the relationship between the structure of the monomers and the surface properties of the UV-cured films was investigated: the wettability decreased, depending on the length of the fluorinated group (q value) and the hydrogenated segment of the monomer (p value)