Synthesis and Characterization of p-[Perfluoro-1-(2-fluorosulfonylethoxy)] ethylated Polystyrene

A new fluorinated polystyrene bearing a p-substituted perfluoro[1-(2-fluorosulfonylethoxy)] ethyl group was synthesized via one-electron oxidation of polystyrene by perfluoro [2-(2-fluorosulfonylethoxy)] propionyl peroxide at different peroxide to polystyrene molar ratios. The yield of perfluoroalkylation decreases with the increase of the reactant molar ratio. The modified polymer has been characterized by various techniques: the ring perfluoro[l-(2-fluorosulfonylethoxy)] ethylation has been proved by FT-IR and ¹⁹F NMR; the X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) show the maximum binding energy of F_ls, O_ls C_ls(two kinds of carbon atoms, namely C-H and C-F) and S_2p, respectively; desulfonylation of the fluorinated polystyrene appearing at 217 °C has been found by its thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The determinations of contact angle, refractive index and glass transition temperature of the modified polymer have disclosed that when the contact angle increases with the increase of the molar ratio, the refractive index and glass transition temperature decrease. The polydispersity values indicate that the degradation of the polymer chains did not occur during the reaction.