Synthesis of telechelic perfluorocarbon functionalized polystyrene and polybutylmethacrylate and characterization of their blends

- Polystyrene (PS) and polybutylmethacrylate (PBMA) with perfluorocarbon (RF) end groups were synthesized.
- The PS and PBMA had either C7F15, C7F15 or C7F15 groups and were end-functionalized (E)- or telechelic (T).
- Thin films of E and T (1/1 w/w) blends of isobaric polymers (1/1w/w) were studied by TEM, AFM and DSC.
- TEMs of the 15 kDa blends of E and T blends show 0.8-1.2 nm wide lamellar domains.
- Lamellar widths of the 30 kDa T-blends were 20-40 nm while the isobaric E blends exceeded one micron.

Telechelic (T) and end-functionalized (E) perfluorocarbon (RF = C7F15 and C13F27) polystyrene with molecular weights (MWs) of about 15 k and 30 k and the corresponding isobaric polybutylmethacrylate (PS/PBMA) were synthesized by a combination of ATRP and Cu (I) catalyzed click-coupling reactions. Blends (1/1 w/w) of the E− and T-type PS and PBMA having nearly identical MWs of 15 and 30 kDa and RF contents were compared using TEM, AFM, DSC and optical transmittance. The TEMs and AFMs of the isobaric E− and T-type blends showed large increases in compatibility of the T-polymer blends as indicated by its much smaller domain sizes. For instance, at MW of about 30 k the blend of T-type C7F15 functionalized PS and PBMA showed well-defined TEM domains whereas the blend of the C13F27 end-functionalized polymers only showed ill-defined μ-sized domains.

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