Fluorinated Materials: Reactivity, Self-Organization and Functions

The Department of Materials, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Politecnico di Milano has a long tradition in the field of fluorinated materials. This has been particularly recognized when in 2004 Solvay-Solexis S.p.A. started a strict collaboration with this group aimed at developing an European Site of Excellence on Fluorinated Materials Research and Training. The Politecnico di Milano/Solvay chair on “Fluorine Chemistry and Fluorinated Materials”, a first in Europe, was started and a laboratory for the handling of F2 gas was built in the Mancinelli Campus of the Department.The unique properties of fluorinated compounds and materials requires specific expertise and this holds both for technical/scientific and for organizational aspects. Interestingly, fluorine is the only element of the periodic table that gives the name to an American Chemical Society technical division. Selective fluorination can be highly advantageous in drugs and agrochemicals. As many as 30/40% of agrochemicals and 20% of pharmaceuticals on the market are estimated to contain fluorine, including half of the top 10 drugs sold in 2005 (see the Cover Story: Chemical & Engineering News 2006, 84(23), 15-23). Perfluorinated compounds are endowed with properties quite different from selectively fluorinated compounds and their applications are in completely different areas. For instance, thanks to their transparency, some fluoropolymers are particularly promising for the photolithographic patterning at 157 nm, and thanks to their inertness and conducting properties other fluoropolymers are of great interest for lithium batteries and fuel cells (see Chemical & Engineering News 2003, 81(9), 44-49).