Preparation and surface properties of poly(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate) coatings modified with methyl acrylate

A series of copolymers of 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate (FMA) and methyl acrylate (MA) with different copolymer compositions were synthesized by solution polymerization. The chemical structure of copolymers was characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ¹H NMR, and ¹⁹F NMR. The reactivity ratios for FMA (r ₁) and MA (r ₂) were found to be 1.83 and 0.31 by the Fineman–Ross method and 1.91 and 0.34 by the Kelen–Tudos method, respectively. The glass transition temperature of the copolymers decreased with increasing MA content and ranged from 77.5 to 13.4°C for a feed composition of 90 mol% MA monomer, while, according to water contact angle data, the hydrophilic properties of the copolymer coatings increased with increasing MA feed composition. Remarkably, when the feed composition of MA was 60 mol%, the glass transition temperature was reduced to 29.2°C, while the obtained copolymer exhibited comparable hydrophobic property to the PFMA homopolymer.