Novel polystyrene bearing highly branched hexafluoropropene trimer pendants

A novel styrenic monomer having hexafluoropropene trimer on the benzene ring was prepared. The highly fluorinated monomer was polymerized to yield a white powdery polymer, which was soluble in fluorinated solvents and had resistance to usual organic solvents, good water repellency, and low refractivity. In contrast to common fluoropolymers having linear-fluorinated side-chains, the polymer has a characteristic high glass transition temperature. Thus, the fluorinated polymer and copolymer with styrene are suitable for applications at elevated temperature. The polymers can replace the conventional fluorinated polyacrylates, which are used in large quantity as repellents with potentially generating perfluorooctanoic acid in the environment.