Synthesis of fluorinated polyacrylic acrylate oligomer for the UV-curable coatings

A series of novel fluorinated polyacrylic acrylate oligomers with different fluorine contents were successfully prepared by acid–epoxy reaction between acrylic acid and a glycidyl methacrylate (GMA)-functional acrylic copolymer, which was presynthesized by traditional free radical polymerization in solvent with ethyl methacrylate, n-butyl acrylate, dodecafluoroheptyl methacrylate, and GMA. The UV-curable coatings were prepared with various amounts of the obtained fluorinated polyacrylic acrylate oligomer. The influences of fluorine content on the properties of UV-curable films were investigated by the tests of hydrophobicity, oleophobicity, thermal stability, water absorption, hardness, and chemical resistance. The results showed that the water contact angle of cured films increased from 78.5° to 104.5°, n-hexadecane contact angles increased from 12.3° to 43.4°, the water absorption decreased from 1.27% to 0.63%, while the fluorine content of the cured films increased from 0 to 5.7 wt%. In addition, thermal stability and chemical resistance of the curable films containing fluorinated oligomer were also clearly improved.