THE PREPARATION OF NEW PERFLUOROPOLYETHER ELASTOMERS EXHIBITING EXCELLENT LOW-TEMPERATURE AND HIGH-TEMPERATURE PROPERTIES

EXFLUOR RESEARCH CORPORATION HAS DEVELOPED A TECHNOLOGY TO FLUORINATE HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT HYDROCARBON POLYETHERS. A WIDE VARIETY OF PERFLUOROALKYLETHER ELASTOMERIC POLYMERS EXHIBITING EXCELLENT LOW-TEMPERATURE FLEXIBILITY HAVE BEEN PREPARED. SOME OF THOSE PERFLUOROPOLYETHER ELASTOMERS WERE FOUND TO HAVE GLASS TRANSITION TEMPERATURES AS LOW AS -100 DEGREES CENTIGRADE. HOWEVER, NONE OF THOSE POLYMERS HAVE GOOD PROCESSABILITIES WHICH WILL BE REQUIRED IN COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS. PERFLUORINATED POLYMERS HAVE SUCH LOW MOLECULAR INTERACTIONS THAT THEY DO NOT STICK TOGETHER VERY WELL LIKE MOST HYDROCARBON AND PARTIALLY FLUORINATED POLYMERS DO. THE LACK OF REACTIVE SITES IN THOSE PERFLUOROPOLYETHER ELASTOMERS MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO CHEMICALLY CROSS-LINK THE POLYMERS. EFFORTS WILL BE MADE TO SOLVE THE ABOVE PROCESSABILITY PROBLEMS BY INTRODUCING SOME FUNCTIONALITY INTO PERFLUOROPOLYETHER ELASTOMERS USING RECENTLY DEVELOPED FLUORINATION TECHNIQUES. THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE POLYMERS WILL BE STUDIED BY THERMOGRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS (TGA) AND DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY (DSC).