Fluorinated Copolymer Emulsion for Low-PFOA Textile Repellency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fluorine-containing water- and oil-repellent agents struggle to balance sufficient water-repellency and soil resistance on textiles, and there are concerns regarding the environmental impact of certain fluorine-containing compounds.
Innovation Solution
A fluorine-containing copolymer comprising repeating units from a fluorine-containing monomer with a fluoroalkyl group of 1 to 6 carbon atoms and a fluorine-free monomer, combined with a surfactant and an aqueous medium, forming a water- and oil-repellent agent that provides superior water-repellency, oil-repellency, and soil releasability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If telomer compounds containing Rf groups having 8 carbon atoms are used, then water- and oil-repellency is achieved, but environmental harm increases due to potential decomposition to PFOA
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the problematic component (Rf groups with 8 or more carbon atoms that decompose to PFOA) while retaining the essential water- and oil-repellency function. By using Rf groups with 6 or less carbon atoms, the invention removes the harmful decomposition pathway while maintaining performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potential harm of using fluorinated compounds by selecting specific Rf group sizes (6 or less carbon atoms) that do not decompose to PFOA. This transforms a potentially harmful material choice into a safe and effective solution, maintaining water- and oil-repellency without environmental damage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution achieves superior water-repellency, oil-repellency, and soil resistance on substrates like textiles while minimizing the use of perfluoroalkyl groups with more than 8 carbon atoms, addressing environmental concerns.
Implementation Method 1
a fluorine-containing copolymer comprising repeating units derived from: (a) a fluorine-containing monomer containing a fluoroalkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms
Implementation Method 2
superior water repellency, oil repellency, soil resistance and soil releasability
Implementation Method 3
a water- and oil-repellent agent (and, a soil release agent) consisting of an aqueous emulsion comprising: (I) the above-mentioned fluorine-containing copolymer, (II) a surfactant
Data Source
AI summary
A water- and oil-repellent agent is an aqueous emulsion containing:(I) a fluorine-containing copolymer,(II) a surfactant, and(III) an aqueous medium. The fluorine-containing copolymer contains repeating units derived from (a) a fluorine-containing monomer containing a fluoroalkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms and (b) a fluorine-free monomer selected from the group consisting of vinyl halide and vinylidene halide, wherein the fluorine-containing copolymer has a melt viscosity of 1,000 to 100,000 cP at a temperature of 100° C. under a load of 25 kgf/cm2.