• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.278-282
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• 2007

The degradation characteristics of perfluoropolyether (PFPE) for computer hard disk drive have been investigated. Thermal degradation in PFPE started at $170\;^{\circ}C$ and it was completed at $450\;^{\circ}C$. If PFPE was contacted with wear fragment from slider made by $Al_2O_3{\cdot}TiC$, the thermal degradation was accelerated by the catalytic Lewis acid degradation. The Lewis acid degradation mainly took placed in methylene oride(fluoride) chain scission as well as methylene(fluoride) and hydroxy end chain. As a result, the degradation reaction accomplished as early as at $300\;^{\circ}C$. The photo oxidation due to UV exposure on PFPE caused the chain scission in methylene(fluoride), and end chain in PFPE without chain scission in methylene oxide(fluoride) and then the molecular weight of PFPE increased by expected secondary reactions between formed radicals in the photo oxidation.

• Proceedings of the SCSK Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.327-337
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• 2003

In recent years, the chemical modification of polymers has been a driving force in many industrial sectors. There was evidence that this might also be the case of perfluoropolyethers (PFPEs) in the personal care industry. To investigate this potential, a systematic study has been conducted at Solvay Solexis SpA (formerly Ausimont SpA), through the analysis of the organic chemistry suitable to modify PFPE structures, and through the examination of the properties of PFPE derivatives thus produced from the viewpoint of a cosmetic formulator.(omitted)

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.397-402
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• 2008

Perfluoropolyether(PFPE) has been widely applied in industry because of its very excellent properties of very high contact angle and low surface energy, good lubricant property and antifouling property. But the difficulty to synthesize PFPE has limited the research on this field. In this study, the novel silicon-containing oligomer with perfluoropolyether moiety was synthesized, and the structure was characterized by $^{19}F$-NMR and $^1H$-NMR. The surface properties of contact angle, sliding angle, and soil release property were investigated. The results show that PFPE in this study can be utilized as an anti-smudge coating material because it shows lower sliding angle and better soil release property than commercial products.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.71-76
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• 2012

Biofouling by marine organisms such as algae and barnacles causes lots of significant problems in marine systems such as a rise of the maintenance-repair cost for the ship and the marine structures. In this work, a fluoropolymer, perfluoropolyether (PFPE), was applied as an anti-biofouling coating material that prevents the adhesion of marine organisms and facilitates the removal of them. Water contact angles of various surfaces were tested to examine the hydrophobicity of the PFPE-modified surface. The PFPE-modified surface showed the water contact angle of $64.5^{\circ}$ which is a remarkable rise from $46.7^{\circ}$ of amine-treated surface. When the substrate was treated with PFPE, the adhesion on the of the barnacle and other marine organisms were repressed around 15% by the enhanced hydrophobicity. In addition, the removal the of the adhered marine organisms were better comparing to that of the surface prepared by PDMS. Surfaces of the substrate treated by PFPE were characterized through physical and chemical methods to analyze the biofouling results. Degree of biomolecular adhesion to the substrate was quantified by the measurement the fluorescence intensity of marine organisms dyed with green fluorescence. PFPE is expected to be applicable not only to anti-biofouling systems but also to medical devices where the prevention of protein adhesion is required.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.166-170
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• 2011

This study reported the synthesis of perfluoropolyether intermediate (TP-$COOCF_3$) having a $CF_3$ functional group via electrophilic fluorine substituting direct fluorination from PFPE intermediate (TP-$COOCH_3$) having a $CH_3$ functional group, which was synthesized by the ring opening polymerization and methyl esterification of HFPO. The effects of reaction conditions such as the amount of solvent, fluorine partial pressure, reaction time, were investigated. The results showed that the yield of fluorination reaction became the highest when the reaction was carried out in a mild condition for a long reaction time, which also minimized side reactions. The sample was characterized by FTIR and NMR, which confirmed the synthesis of the final product, TP-$COOCF_3$, via direct fluorination converting $CH_3$ of TP-$COOCH_3$ to $CF_3$ of TP-$COOCF_3$ with 95.4% yield.

• KSTLE International Journal
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• v.9 no.1_2
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• pp.10-12
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• 2008

Silicon micro-patterns were fabricated on Si (100) wafers using photolithography and DRIE (Deep Reactive Ion Etching) fabrication techniques. The patterned shapes included micro-pillars and micro-channels. After the fabrication of the patterns, the patterned surfaces were chemically modified by coating Z-DOL (perfluoropolyether, PFPE) thin films. The surfaces were then evaluated for their micro-friction behavior in comparison with those of bare Si (100) flat, Z-DOL coated Si (100) flat and uncoated Si patterns. Experimental results showed that the chemically treated (Z-DOL coated) patterned surfaces exhibited the lowest values of coefficient of friction when compared to the rest of the test materials. The results indicate that a combination of both the topographical and chemical modification is very effective in reducing the friction property. Combined surface treatments such as these could be useful for tribological applications in miniaturized devices such as Micro/Nano-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS/NEMS).

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.650-655
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• 2014

The degradation characteristics of perfluoropolyether (PFPE) derivatives currently being used as computer hard disk lubricants have been investigated. Especially, we considered the effects of end group on degradation behavior of PFPE derivatives. It was found that the degradation of PFPE derivatives in the presence of $Al_2O_3$ involves two degradation mechanisms such as thermal degradation and Lewis acid disproportionation by $AlF_3$ which was mainly formed by oxide-to-halide reaction between $Al_2O_3$ and the degraded PFPE. The end groups were strongly related to Lewis acid disproportionation of PFPE derivatives, and it is due to the difference of electron donating ability in the each end groups. Even if PFPE derivatives have same repeating unit in the main chain, Lewis acid disproportionation was prohibited by higher electron donating ability by the end group which caused the high electron density at the acetal group in the repeating unit.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.300-306
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• 2010

Superhydrophobic micro-nano hybrid structures were fabricated by reactive ion etching of hydrophobic polymer micro patterns using gold nanoparticles as etch masks. Micro structures of perfluoropolyether bisurethane methacrylate (PFPE) were prepared by soft-lithographic technique using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) molds. Water contact angles on the surfaces of various PFPE micro structures and corresponding micro-nano hybrid structures were compared to examine the effects of micro patterning and nanostructure formation in the manifestation of superhydrophobicity. The PFPE micro-nano hybrid structures exhibited a very stable superhydrophobicity, while the micro-only structures could not reach the superhydrophobicity but only showed the unstable hydrophobicity.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.35-38
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• 2006

A study of electrowetting using an Octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) and Z- Tetraol 2000 perfluoropolyether lubricant as hydrophobic layers on Si and $SiO_2$ wafer was performed. The $SiO_2$ layer used as insulating layer was thermally grown on the silicon wafer to a thickness of 220-230 nm. The results demonstrated that the contact angle decreased from $100^{\circ}$ to $80^{\circ}$ at 28 V applied potential on $SiO_2$ wafer coated with OTS and the contact angle appeared to be reversible. However, the contact angle on the $SiO_2$ wafer coated with Z- Tetraol 2000 was not observable at 28 V applied potential. Furthermore, the contact angle on the Si wafer coated with OTS or Z- Tetraol 2000 appeared to be irreversible due to the generation of electrolysis in the droplet. It is concluded that it is feasible to use SAM as a hydrophobic layer in electrowetting applications.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2004

In precision mechanical components that experience sliding, it is important to reduce the friction to minimize surface damage. Particularly, new lubrication methods are needed to reduce friction in silicon based micro-systems applications. In this work, the tribological characteristics of PFPE (Perfluoropolyether) Zdol lubricant on silicon were investigated based on the thickness of the film. The lubricant was coated on silicon wafer specimens by the dip coating method. It was shown that the friction coefficient as well as stiction decreased as the thickness of the film increased. The results of this work may be applied to improve the tribological performance of silicon based micro-system components.