Synthesis of durable hydrophobic fluorinated polyurethanes with exceptional cavitation erosion resistance

This study prepared a series of fluorinated polyurethane (FPU) with different fluorine content via changing the content of hydroxy-terminated liquid fluorine elastomer (LFH) for achieving good cavitation erosion resistance. The results showed that the FPU samples had much superior hydrophobicity , thermal stability, mechanical properties , and cavitation erosion resistance compared to the polyurethane (PU). The FPU synthesised from 20 % LFH exhibited the best properties, and its erosion rate during cavitation erosion was only 26.3 % of the PU. In addition, the simulation results suggest that the fluorine-containing soft segments in FPU were responsible for the improved properties because these soft segments would not be subjected to hydrolysis and exhibited good stability at a high temperature.