Mesomorphous structure and properties of non-equimolar complexes of poly (ethylenimine) and perfluorooctanoic acid

A series of solid complexes, PEI-PFAO, made of poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) with different compositions were prepared through a starving addition method, where PFOA was fed into PEI solution at the molar ratio, phi(feed), of acid group to the amino group of PEI, never beyond unity. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction diagrams confirmed amorphous structure of these complexes. Small-angle X-ray scattering indicated two ordered mesomorphous structures of alpha and beta lamellar phases, with respective long periods of 2.29 and 1.15 nm in the complexes. By increasing the actual molar ratio, phi, of PFOA to the amino group of PEI, the complex structure was altered from alpha-phase dominant to beta-phase dominant. All complexes exhibited two thermal degradation processes induced by decomposition of the bound PFOA below 230 degreesC and PEI backbone at about 350 degreesC. The initiating degradation temperature, T-id, decreases with increasing phi due to the preferential degradation of the PFOA chain bound to the tertiary amino groups. The glass transition temperature, T-g, of the complex increases with phi up to the degradation of the complex of phi = 1. This increase in T-g with phi also supports an ordered alignment of the bound PFOA chains, which greatly restricts the PEI mobility. The solid surface tension, gamma(S), and critical surface tension, gamma(C), of the complex are between 15.4 and 16.8 mN/m and between 13.5 and 15.4 mN/m, respectively. The latter is very close to or even smaller than gamma(C) of PTFE (15 mN/m), suggesting the enrichment of CF2 and CF3 groups at the complex surfaces. The fact that the PEI-POFA complex combines high hydrophobicity with selective thermal degradation of bound fluorinated chains promises a potential of selective change and local functionalization of the surface in a well-controlled manner.