SL 03

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A TRANSPARENT THERMALLY AND CHEMICALLY STABLE PERFLUORO POLYMER: PERFLUORINATED POLY(2-METHYLIDENE-1,3-DIOXOLANE)

^aF. Mikeš, ^bJ. Baldrian, ^bJ. Pleštil

^aPolytechnic University, 6 MetroTech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201,USA (fjmikes@yahoo.com)

^bInstitute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Heyrovskeho nam. 2, CZ-162 06 Prague 6, The Czech Republic

Perfluoro polymers are nowadays very important materials applied in electronics and photonics. One of the promising applications of perfluorinated polymers appears in the field of plastic optical fibers (POF). The synthesis and characterization of perfluoro-poly (2-methylene-1, 3-dioxolane) (PFMD) are presented.

PFMD is a semi-crystalline polymer, unfortunately insoluble in most organic solvents. It is partially soluble only in hexafluorobenzene at temperature higher than 140^oC. The glass transition temperatures depending on molecular weight (T_g) is 94-106^oC and crystalline part melts at 224-229^oC. We studied the rate of recrystallization of amorphous sample when heated at temperatures lower than the glass transition temperature. The rate of recrystallization depends on the molecular weight of PFMD and is faster for low molecular weight polymers. The dependence of refractive index on wavelength in the visible and near infrared regions of spectra was determined and material dispersion of the amorphous polymer was evaluated. Optical properties are compared with perfluorinated polymer CytopÒ of Asahi Glass Company, Japan.