Synthesis and Self-Assembling of Amphiphilic Diblock Copolymers of 2,3,4,5,6-Pentafluorostyrene

Abstract

Amphiphilic diblock copolymers (DC) of 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorostyrene and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate were prepared for the first time by two-step reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The morphology of films of diblock copolymers that have a composition close to equimolar was studied by transmission electron microscopy. The observed microphase separation and formation of spherical nanodomains is not typical for equimolar diblock copolymers and seems to result from hydrogen bonding between the hydroxyl and carbonyl groups (OH···OH and C=O···HO) in poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) blocks. Obviously, it is the ability of diblock copolymers to self-organization is the cause of formation of fabric coatings with low surface energy (γ = 11.9 mJ/m²) and relatively large water contact angles (\({{\theta }^{{{{{\text{H}}}_{{\text{2}}}}{\text{O}}}}}\) = 120° ± 6°) and diiodomethane (\({{\theta }^{{{\text{C}}{{{\text{H}}}_{2}}{{{\text{I}}}_{{\text{2}}}}}}}\) = 93° ± 2°).