The review seeks to cover recent developments in the area of fluorinated el
astomers. It reports that, except for isolated cases, most fluoroelastomers
are synthesized by radical co-, ternary or tetrapolymerizations. Hence, af
ter reminding the most known syntheses of fluoroalkenes involved in the pre
paration of these fluoropolymers and recent achievements of block, graft an
d alternating copolymers, several academic laws and concepts (e,g, kinetics
) of the copolymerization are presented. The section dealing with the synth
esis of fluoroelastomers is divided into two parts: the first one covers th
e preparation of fluorinated copolymers containing tetrafluoroethylene, whi
le the second one extensively describes the preparation of fluoroelastomers
based on vinylidene fluoride. This section also points out recent synthese
s on novel reactive functional trifluorovinyl or vinyl ether monomers for e
asy curing of original fluoropolymers. Then, heteroatom-containing fluoroel
astomers are briefly summarized. Various methods of curing are reported in
the following section while the next one describes ingredients used in form
ulations of fluoroelastomeric systems. This review also covers compounding
and processing of this class of fluoropolymers. Finally, a summary of vario
us properties and applications of fluoroelastomers is presented showing how
such products resistant to severe conditions are useful in modem industrie
s. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.