Fluorous Property of a Short Perfluoroalkyl-Containing Compound Realized by Self-Assembled Monolayer Technique on a Silicon Substrate

Abstract

Fluorous properties represented by water-and-oil repellency are perfluoroalkyl (Rf) compound-specific characteristics, which are widely used for surface coating of glass, electronic devices and textiles for preventing water and grease fouling. According to the stratified dipole-arrays (SDA) theory, the minimum Rf length of (CF₂)₇ is theoretically necessary for realizing fluorous properties. Unfortunately, however, production of compounds involving this chemical unit is strictly banned because of concerns of environmental pollution, which is a big dilemma. Here, we show that the fluorous properties can be realized by self-assembled monolayer (SAM) even with a short Rf-containing compound, since the SAM technique makes the best use of the self-aggregation property of the Rf groups, and it readily makes the molecules immobile.