Recent advances in fluorinated polymers:synthesis and diverse applications

Fluorinated polymers exhibit a unique combination of attributes,including chemical inertness,low surface energy,exceptional weather resistance,and intriguing electrical properties.This mini review provides an overview of recent advancements in the research of fluorinated polymers,highlighting the development of synthetic strategies for novel fluorinated polymers and their diverse applications in various fields.Traditional fluorinated polyolefins can be modified through chemical methods to produce functional materials.Copolymerization of fluorinated olefins with non-fluorinated monomers effectively addresses synthesis challenges,yielding main-chain fluoro-containing polymers with specific functional groups.Additionally,recent studies have revealed that free radical(co)polymerization of fluorinated(meth)acrylate monomers leads to new fluorinated polymers with enhanced solubility,processability,and structural diversity.Capitalizing on these new synthetic strategies,a range of fluorinated polymer materials has been developed for a multitude of applications,including flexible electrodes,alternating current(AC)electroluminescent devices,energy storage capacitors,triboelectric nanogenerators,and lithium batteries.With their customized structures and excellent properties,fluorinated polymers hold significant promise to uncover more potential applications in the era of flexible and wearable electronics.

Anisotropic self-diffusion of fluorinated poly(methacrylate) in metal-organic frameworks assessed with molecular dynamics simulation

Utilizing the periodically structured metal-organic framework （MOF） as the reaction vessel is a promising technique to achieve the aligned polymer molecular chains, where the diffusion procedure of the polymer monomer inside MOF is one of the key mechanisms. To investigate the diffusion mechanism of fluorinated polymer monomers in MOFs, in this paper the molecular dynamics simulations combined with the density functional theory and the Monte Carlo method are used and the all-atom models of TFMA （trifluoroethyl methacrylate） monomer and two types of MOFs,[Zn2（BDC）2（TED）]n and[Zn2（BPDC）2（TED）]n, are established. The diffusion behaviors of TFMA monomer in these two MOFs are simulated and the main influencing factors are analyzed. The obtained results are as follows. First, the electrostatic interactions between TFMA monomers and MOFs cause the monomers to concentrate in the MOF channel, which slows down the monomer diffusion. Second, the anisotropic shape of the one-dimensional MOF channel leads to different diffusion speeds of monomers in different directions. Third, MOF with a larger pore diameter due to a longer organic ligand,[Zn2（BPDC）2（TED）]n in this paper, facilitates the diffusion of monomers in the MOF channel. Finally, as the number of monomers increases, the self-diffusion coefficient is reduced by the steric effect.

Fluorinated polymer with high thermal stability for fabrication of 32-channel arrayed waveguide grating multiplexer on silicon

A cross-linkable fluorinated poly (ether ether ketone) (FPEEK) was synthesized for the fabrication of arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer. The results of thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and near-infrared absorption spectrum show that the materials have high thermal stability and high optical transparency in the infrared communication region. The refractive index of FPEEK can be controlled easily by changing the fluorine content of the materials. The 32-channel AWG multiplexer is fabricated using the FPEEK and oxygen reactive ion etching technology. The AWG multiplexer exhibits that the insertion loss is from 12.8 to 17.8 dB and the channel crosstalk is less than-20 dB. The wavelength channel spacing and the center wavelength are 0.8nm and 1548nm, respectively.

Arrayed Lensed Fibers Collectively Fabricated Utilizing UV-Curable Fluorinated Polymer

A novel fabrication method for lensed fiber array has been proposed utilizing UV-curable fluorinated polymer, whose refractive index is matched to fused silica. The structure is composed of three segments; single mode fiber, coreless silica fiber and UV-curable polymer lens-tip. Flexible control of the curvature of lens-tip was realized by control of deposited volume of the liquid polymer and free-space interconnection performances are characterized.

Synergistic effect of fluorination on both donor and acceptor materials for high performance non-fullerene polymer solar cells with 13.5% efficiency

A high performance polymer solar cells(PSCs) based on polymer donor PM6 containing fluorinated thienyl benzodithiophene unit and n-type organic semiconductor acceptor IT-4 F containing fluorinated end-groups were developed. In addition to complementary absorption spectra(300–830 nm) with IT-4 F, the PM6 also has a deep HOMO(the highest occupied molecular) level(-5.50 e V), which will lower the open-circuit voltage(V_(oc)) sacrifice and reduce the E_(loss) of the IT-4 F-based PSCs. Moreover, the strong crystallinity of PM6 is beneficial to form favorable blend morphology and hence to suppress recombination. As a result, in comparison with the PSCs based on a non-fluorinated D/A pair of PBDB-T:ITIC with a medium PCE of 11.2%, the PM6:IT-4 Fbased PSCs yielded an impressive PCE of 13.5% due to the synergistic effect of fluorination on both donor and acceptor, which is among the highest values recorded in the literatures for PSCs to date. Furthermore, a PCE of 12.2% was remained with the active layer thickness of up to 285 nm and a high PCE of 11.4% was also obtained with a large device area of 1 cm^2. In addition, the devices also showed good storage, thermal and illumination stabilities with respect to the efficiency. These results indicate that fluorination is an effective strategy to improve the photovoltaic performance of materials, as well as the both fluorinated donor and acceptor pair-PM6:IT-4 F is an ideal candidate for the large scale roll-to-roll production of efficient PSCs in the future.

Identification of tartrazine and sunset yellow by fluorescence spectroscopy combined with radial basis function neural network

The fluorescence spectra of synthetic food dyes of sunset yellow and tartrazine are analyzed. The fluorescence peak wavelengths of sunset yellow and tartrazine are 576 and 569 nm, respectively, while the fluorescence spectra widths are 480-750 and 500 750 nm induced by ultraviolet light between 310-400 nm. The fluorescence spectra of sunset yellow overlap heavily with those of tartrazine, so it is difficult to distinguish them. Based on the principle of radial basis function neural network, a neural network is obtained from the training of the 14 groups of experimental data. The results show that the species of sunset yellow and tartrazine could be recognized accurately. This method has potential applications in other synthetic food dyes detection and food safety inspection.

Phase-controlled gain, phase shift, and group velocity using a room-temperature active-Raman-gain medium

A four-level tripod active-Raman-gain scheme is analyzed for obtaining phase-controlled gain, phase shift, and group velocity at room temperature. The scheme can be used to eliminate significant probe field atten- uation or distortion which is unavoidable in the scheme based on electromagnetically induced transparency. It is shown that the intensity gain, phase shift, and group velocity of a probe field can be simultaneously manipulated by changing the relative phase of two pump fields. The scheme is also different from that proposed recently by Deng et al. where a probe-field gain always exists. New features of the scheme presented here raise the possibility of designing rapidly responding optical switches and gates for optical information processing.

Negative refraction and subwavelength imaging of a photonic-crystal slab for the frequencies in the third band

Negative refraction and subwavelength imaging properties of a two-dimensional （2D） photonic crystal （PC） slab are studied by the finite-difference time-domain method. The PC consists of a triangular lattice of air holes immersed in a dielectric. For a certain frequency range in the third photonic band, the directions of the group velocities and the phase velocities can be opposite, so the PC can work as a kind of negative refractive-index material. The light radiated from a point source can form a subwavelength image spot through the PC slab. Negative refraction and an effective refractive index of the PC slab n = -1 can be achieved for the incident wave with its incident angle within a certain range.