Synthesis and surface properties of amphiphilic fluorine‐containing diblock copolymers

Abstract Amphiphilic diblock copolymers (DCs) of 2,3,4,5,6‐pentafluorostyrene (PFS) and 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) of different composition and molecular weights were prepared by two‐step reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and first used for preparation of superhydrophobic coatings for cotton/polyester fabrics. The transition from hydrophobic to superhydrophobic coatings is controlled by the ratio between poly(2,3,4,5,6‐pentafluorostyrene) (PPFS) block and poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) block lengths ( P n PFS / P n HEMA ). The increase in P n PFS / P n HEMA is accompanied by a significant increase in water ( θ Н 2 О ) and diiodomethane ( θ CH 2 I 2 ) contact angles, which reach the plateau at P n PFS / P n HEMA = 3.5 and remains almost constant up to P n PFS / P n HEMA = 6.2. Surface modification of the cotton/polyester fabric with the DC having P n PFS / P n HEMA = 6.2 produced superhydrophobic surface with θ Н 2 О = 158 ± 4° and contact angle hysteresis CAH = 5 ± 2°, and θ CH 2 I 2 = 107 ± 3°.