Fluoroethylene vinyl ether (FEVE) resins were developed in Japan in the late 1970s and entered the commercial market there in 1982. FEVE resins are amorphous A-B type copolymers with repeating units of fluoroethylene and substituted vinyl ether. Unlike pure fluoropolymers, FEVE resins are soluble in solvent due to the vinyl ether groups. Solvent solubility transforms FEVE resins from high-performance polymers into high-performance backbone resins for paints and coatings.
Fluoropolymers, like PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride), were used in paints prior to the introduction of FEVE resins to the market. In fact, PVDF resins are still used widely today. In order to utilize these more traditional fluoro-polymers like PVDF in liquid coatings, blending with other resins such as acrylics is needed. Special solvents are required to solubilize the blends, and ultimately heat is used to help the system flow and form a thermoplastic coating film. In contrast, the FEVE polymer was designed to have inherent solubility in conventional, widely used solvents via vinyl ether monomers. The chemistry of the FEVE polymer also is fully amorphous, unlike the PVDF-acrylic systems that are semicrystalline. This amorphous morphology allows FEVE resins to form films without heat. The implication of this property is considerable. The introduction of FEVE fluoropolymers to the coatings industry brought extremely durable fluoropolymer coatings out of the factory and into the field.