Influence of fluorine-based additive content on the physical and physicochemical properties of ski gliding wax

This study investigated the influence of the fluorine-based additive content on the physical and physicochemical properties of paraffinic wax. Nineteen mixtures of a paraffinic wax and a fluorine-based additive (0 to 50%) were characterised by penetrability tests at − 24 °C and + 24 °C and by static and dynamic wettability measurements. Three of them (4%, 8% and 50% content in the fluorine-based additive) were also characterised by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The wettability and penetrability results significantly increased between 0% and 4%, then significantly decreased between 4 and about 10%, and remained constant from 10% to 50% of fluorine-based additive. Maximal water-repellence was observed for about 4% of the fluorine-based additive. The XPS results indicated that the increase in fluorine concentration at the mixture surface was not linearly related to the fluorine-based additive content in the paraffinic wax. These results pointed out that there is a limit in addition of the improvement of paraffinic wax properties as a function of the fluorine-based additive content.