Synthesis and characterization of fluorinated PEO-b-PDMS-b-fluorinated PEO by free radical addition

Fluorinated poly(ethylene oxide) propyl-b-polydimethylsiloxane-b-propyl fluorinated poly(ethylene oxide) (FPEO-b-PDMS-b-FPEO) was synthesized by a free radical addition of carbon–hydrogen of polyether segments of poly(ethylene oxide) propyl-b-polydimethylsiloxane-b-propyl poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-b-PDMS-b-PEO) to hexafluoropropylene (HFP) using tert-butyl peroxypivalate as an initiator. In order to reduce the possibility of side reaction, the protection and deprotection via silylation were used for the end-hydroxyls in PEO-b-PDMS-b-PEO chain. The structure of Intermediates and FPEO-b-PDMS-b-FPEO was confirmed by means of Fourier transform infrared and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The effects of amount of initiator, reaction temperature and time on free radical addition were investigated in detail.