Perfluoropolyalkylether (PFPAE) structures can be functionalized with alcoholic groups using an appropriate synthetic pathway: these new fluorinated alcohols can be used as surface modifying agents, through chain transfer mechanism in cationic UV-curing of an epoxy system. Notwithstanding their very low concentration (only ≤5 wt%), the fluorinated alcohols are able to induce a dramatic improvement to the surface properties of the films, without substantially modifying their curing conditions and their bulk properties, neither their transparency. As confirmed by Fourier Transform-Infra Red (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements, the fluorinated comonomers tend to concentrate selectively at the outermost layer of the epoxy UVcured coatings, by spontaneously migrating to the free surface due to their low surface tension. The surface modification of the films depends on the concentration of the fluoroalcohols: coatings
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