Fluorinated poly(butylene terephthalate): Preparation and properties

Fluorinated poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) can be easily prepared using a telechelic perfluoropolyether (PFPE) as a comonomer. The functional groups of the PFPE react completely with other monomers, but the distribution of the PFPE blocks is not homogeneous and in the final polymeric material there is a significant fraction of PFPE bonded to very short segments of polyester. Due to the very poor miscibility of PFPE and PBT, the PFPE is present as a separate phase dispersed in an almost pure PBT matrix. Accordingly, both thermal and mechanical properties of PBT are little affected by the PFPE. The presence of PFPE induces a slight improvement on the fracture resistance and on surface properties such as wear resistance and coefficient of friction. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.