SURFACE-FLUORINATED COATINGS

Review: Teflon (PTFE) and other fluoropolymers have many properties th at are desirable in coatings. However, due to their poor solubility it can be very difficult to formulate coatings containing fluoropolymers , especially if low total fluorine levels are desired. Here the author reviews several methods to modify existing coatings by surface fluori nation to create systems with the bulk properties of the existing coat ing, but with a very low energy, repellant surface and low total fluor ine levels. This is mainly achieved by designing fluorinated molecules that stratify to the surface in the wet coating.