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Intellectual Property Office

Non-Confidential Disclosures

“Methods for Preparing Organic Peroxides and Their Use in Producing Telechelic Fluoropolymers with Well-defined Reactive Endgroups”

PSU Invention Disclosure No. 2006-3153

Field of the Invention/Key Words:

Fluoropolymers, Coatings, Sealing Materials, Protective Linings, Composites

Background:

Polymers having a fluorinated backbone (fluoropolymers) exhibit favorable properties such as high thermal stability, superb chemical inertness, low water adsorptivity, excellent weatherability, and interesting electric and optical properties. One of the challenges in fluoropolymer chemistry is the preparation of telechelic fluoropolymers possessing well-defined functional terminal groups. Existing approaches to fluoropolymer vulcanization cause problems such as chain scission and high operational cost.

Invention description:

The subject invention represents new preparation processes for the radical initiators and use of these new compounds in the polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated fluoromonomers for the generation of telechelic fluoropolymers with well-defined terminal groups, including carboxylic acid, amino, hydroxyl, thiol, and aldehyde groups, etc. These fluoropolymers have also been used as macro-initiators to produce new well-defined graft copolymers and multiple block copolymers, including PS-PVDF-PS and PMMA-PVDF-PMMA. The average molecular weight of these fluoropolymers is greater than 50,000 g/mol.

Advantages:


  • The reactive end-groups of telechelic fluoropolymers offer a wide range of new and useful opportunities for polymer structural modification and functionalization.
  • The cross-linked fluoropolymer networks are especially attractive due to their excellent heat, oil, chemical and ozone resistance, high mechanical strength and low compression set.
  • useful in coatings and as sealing materials
  • The functionalized fluoropolymers can also be utilized as matrix in polymer nanocomposites for applications in fuel cells, capacitors, and coatings.

    • Contact:

    Matthew D. Smith
    Sr. Licensing Officer
    Intellectual Property Office
    The Pennsylvania State University
    113 Technology Center
    University Park, PA 16802-7000
    Phone: (814) 863-1122
    Fax: (814) 865-3591
    E-mail: mds126@psu.edu