| Abstract: | Copolymers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and fluoroacrylate (FA), with different FA content (0–100 wt %), were prepared by bulk polymerization. The chemical structure was identified by 1H‐NMR and other physical properties were measured by DSC, Abbé refractometer, X‐ray diffractometry, polarized optical microscopy, and DMA. The copolymers were confirmed as random copolymers by Fineman–Ross analysis and first‐order Markov statistics. Increasing the FA content from 0 to 100 wt % decreased the refractive index from 1.492 to 1.368. Copolymers with FA content higher than 70 wt % crystallized and led to low transparency and poor thermal properties. On the other hand, copolymers with FA content lower than 70 wt % was thermally stable (Tg was as high as 60°C) and transparent. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 2082–2089, 2004 |
