Wetting-resistant surfaces are useful in a variety of applications, where low surface energy fluoropolymers have been used to reduce liquid wetting on surfaces for some time.  While it is understood that surface roughness also contributes to reduced wetting, more recent work has demonstrated that surface structure also contributes to wetting-resistance, enabling the repellence of low surface tension liquids, such as oils and alcohols, which previously was not possible.  Fluorinated Polyhedral Oligomeric SilSesquioxanes (F-POSS) are useful in a variety of military, industrial, and commercial wetting-resistant surface applications.  This is partially due to their microcrystalline structure created during surface preparation.  The low surface energy values of F-POSS also contribute to their usefulness, with one variety possessing the lowest solid surface energy value of any know crystalline solid.  Many different types of F-POSS compounds have been prepared.  These include octahedral, unsymmetrical, ionic, and mixtures of polyhedral compounds, in addition to SF5- and silanol-functional materials, many of which can be used in copolymerization reactions.  This presentation will discuss past and present materials research performed at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Rocket Propulsion Division, located at Edwards Air Force Base and applications of these useful compounds.

Varieties of fluorinated silsesquioxanes and their wetting-resistant characteristics

248th National Meeting (2014)

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