The present invention relates generally to fluorine-containing compounds, and polymers derived therefrom, for use in compositions used for treating textile substrates. The present invention further relates to methods of making fluorine-containing compounds and polymers derived therefrom, compositions comprising the compounds and/or polymers of the present invention, methods of treating substrates, and the treated products derived therefrom.
Fluorine-containing compounds have found use in a wide range of industrial applications including, for example, textile coating applications. Because such fluorine-containing compounds, and the polymers derived therefrom, form coatings which tend to increase the water repellency, oil repellency, and/or soil resistance of substrates, they are desirable for use in treating and protecting the surfaces of such substrates.
Unfortunately, such known fluorochemicals tend to be environmentally undesirable. Many of such known chemicals tend to biodegrade, at least in part, to form compounds such as perfluorocarboxylic acids. Perfluorocarboxylic acids have long and potentially damaging lifetimes in environment. Also, such compounds are not readily metabolized in the human body and tend to bioaccumulate in the liver. Thus, ingestion or inhalation of such compounds can be detrimental to human health.
Recognizing these and other drawbacks of the related art, the present inventors have perceived a need for new fluorine-containing compounds which are not only suitable for use in a variety of applications, especially textile coatings applications, but also are environmentally desirable and have relatively low toxicity. These and other objects are achieved by the present invention as described below.