Fluoroelastomers:: synthesis, properties and applications

The review seeks to cover recent developments in the area of fluorinated elastomers. It reports that, except for isolated cases, most fluoroelastomers are synthesized by radical co-, ternary or tetrapolymerizations. Hence, after reminding the most known syntheses of fluoroalkenes involved in the preparation of these fluoropolymers and recent achievements of block, graft and alternating copolymers, several academic laws and concepts (e,g, kinetics) of the copolymerization are presented. The section dealing with the synthesis of fluoroelastomers is divided into two parts: the first one covers the preparation of fluorinated copolymers containing tetrafluoroethylene, while the second one extensively describes the preparation of fluoroelastomers based on vinylidene fluoride. This section also points out recent syntheses on novel reactive functional trifluorovinyl or vinyl ether monomers for easy curing of original fluoropolymers. Then, heteroatom-containing fluoroelastomers are briefly summarized. Various methods of curing are reported in the following section while the next one describes ingredients used in formulations of fluoroelastomeric systems. This review also covers compounding and processing of this class of fluoropolymers. Finally, a summary of various properties and applications of fluoroelastomers is presented showing how such products resistant to severe conditions are useful in modem industries. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.