Effect of crosslinking on the surface free energy and surface reorganization of waterborne fluorinated polyurethane

To endow waterborne fluorinated polyurethanes (WFPUs), films with stable lower surface free energy and lower surface reorganization after the films contacted with water, a series of crosslinked WFPUs (CWFPUs) emulsions were prepared by adjusting the content of aziridine (AZ). The effect of crosslinking on the surface free energy, glass-transition temperature (T-g), water absorption, and surface composition of dry/hydrated WFPUs and CWFPUs films were studied by CAs test, dynamic mechanical analysis, water absorption measurements, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. When the fluorine content was 0.5%, the surface free energy of the CWFPUs films modified by 0.4% AZ content (CWFPU-6-0.5-CK0.4) reached to the lowest value of 15.76 mN m(-1) which almost equaled to the surface free energy (15.45 mN m(-1)) of the dry uncrosslinked films (WFPU-6-0.5). With the increasing of AZ content, the T-g,T- hard of hard segments of the CWFPUs films increased and the water absorption of the CWFPUs films decreased, which suggested the formation of the crosslinked network structures. The studies of the surface elements and groups composition of dry/hydrated WFPUs and CWFPUs both confirmed that the surface reorganization and the migration of fluorinated side chains were restricted by the crosslinked network structures. (c) 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47167.