Perfluoropolyether(PFPE), also known as perfluoroalkylether(PFAE) or perfluoropolyalkylether(PFPAE), is a synthetic polymer consists of carbon, oxygen and fluorine atoms. Its excellent lubricant characteristics and lifetime stability, even when exposed to extreme conditions of temperature, pressure and chemically reactive species make it an outstanding material in extensive applications. The exact structure of PFPE plays an important role in affecting the polymer's morphology and physical properties. Thus it is of great interest and importance to understand PFPE's structural characteristics such as monomer- and stereo-sequence effects, chain end and branching structures. A series of PFPE commercially available samples have been studied with multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. The selective regions of 19F{13C} gHSQC and 19F-19F selective Exo-COSY produced ultra-high resolution of 2D-NMR spectra for PFPE samples. Signals can be resolved from the complex mixture of monomer- and stereo-sequences present in the polymers. The chain-end structures and possible isomeric fractions have been identified. It provides a reliable means to study the primary and microstructures of PFPE fluoropolymers, which gives valuable information about polymerization conditions, physical properties and structure-property relationships.

Multidimensional NMR studies of perfluoropolyether

255th National Meeting (2018)

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