Perfluorocyclobutane (PFCB) polyaryl ethers: versatile coatings materials

The cyclopolymerization of aromatic trifluorovinyl ether (TEVE) monomers of fers a versatile route to a unique class of linear and network fluoropolyme rs containing the perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB) linkage. Polymerization procee ds by a thermal - radical mediated step-growth mechanism and provides well- defined polymers containing known fuoroolefin end groups. PFCB polymers com bine the engineering thermoplastic nature of polyaryl ethers with fluorocar bon segments and exhibit excellent processability, optical transparency, hi gh temperature performance, and low dielectric constants. An intermediate s trategy utilizing Grignard and aryllithium reagents has been developed whic h offers access to a wide variety of hybrid materials amenable to coatings applications. Liquid crystalline examples have recently been achieved in ad dition to tailoring optical properties by co-polymerization. (C) 2000 Elsev ier Science S.A. All rights reserved.