Open Access

ARTICLE

A Study on the Effect of Reaction Parameters on Viscosity and Molecular Weight of Hexafluoropropylene (HFP) based Perfluoropolyethers (PFPEs)

SAURABH SAXENA^a, PRATEEK MALIK^a, GEETHA SESHADRI^a,*, AJAY K. TYAGI^a, UTTAM KUMAR MANDAL^b

a Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, New Delhi 110007, India.
b University School of Chemical Technology, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Sector-16C, Dwarka, New Delhi 110078, India.

* Corresponding Author: e-mail:

Journal of Polymer Materials 2019, 36(1), 39-51. https://doi.org/10.32381/JPM.2019.36.01.4

Abstract

Medium molecular weight liquid perfluoropolyethers (840 u to 1372 u) were synthesized by photopolymerization of hexafluoropropylene (HFP) in the presence of oxygen. Effects of various reaction parameters such as temperature, pressure, UV wattage and reaction time on yield, viscosity and molecular weight of PFPEs were studied. Out of all the parameters, the effect of reaction temperature was found the most significant on molecular weight of PFPEs. By increasing reaction temperature, viscosity and molecular weight of PFPEs where decreased. By increasing the wattage of the lamp, viscosity and molecular weight of PFPEs where also decreased. PFPEs obtained from reactions were subjected to FTIR and ¹⁹F-NMR analysis for structural confirmation.

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Keywords

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