Dispersion polymerization in supercritical carbon dioxide using comb-like fluorinated polymer surfactants having different backbone structures

Comb-like fluorinated polymers with different backbone structures, poly(heptadecafluorodecyl acrylate) (PA-Rf), poly[oxy[(2-perfluorooctylethylene)thiomethyl]ethylene] (PEO-Rf), and poly[p-[[(perfluorooctylethylene)thio]methyl]styrene] (PS-Rf), were used as surfactants in dispersion polymerization to examine the effect of backbone structure on the formation of polymer particles. Dispersion polymerization of monomers with different polarities using these comb-like fluorinated polymer surfactants in CO2 showed that PEO-Rf containing a polar oxyethylene backbone was an effective surfactant for the dispersion polymerization of a polar monomer, such as N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, whereas PA-Rf was effective for less polar monomers, such as methyl methacrylate and N-vinyl caprolactam.