Aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion stabilized with amine oxide surfactant and process for making coagulated fluoropolymer resin

1. An aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion comprising an aqueous medium, fluoropolymer particles, and an amine oxide surfactant of the formula:

(R 1 )(R 2 )(R 3 )N→O

wherein R 1 is radical of the formula:

R 4 —(C═O) a —X—(C═O) b —(CH 2 ) n —

wherein R 4 is a saturated or unsaturated, branched or unbranched, cyclic or acyclic, alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, ether or hydroxyether radical having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, X is an O, NH or NR 5 , a and b are 0 or 1 with the proviso that a+b=1, and n is 2-6;

wherein R 2 and R 3 are independently selected from saturated or unsaturated, branched or unbranched, cyclic or acyclic, alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, ether or hydroxyether radical having 1 to 10 carbon atoms optionally substituted with halogen;

R 5 is selected from saturated or unsaturated, branched or unbranched, cyclic or acyclic, alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, ether or hydroxyether radical having 1 to 10 carbon atoms optionally substituted with halogen or an N-oxylamino group;

wherein that R 2 and R 3 may be joined by a chemical bond to form a ring; and

wherein the aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion has a pH of greater than about 7.

2. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 1 wherein R1 is a radical of the formula

R 4 —(C═O) a —X—(C═O) b —(CH 2 ) n —

wherein R 4 comprises alkyl having 1-20 carbon atoms, X is NH, a and b are 0 or 1 with the proviso that a+b=1, and n is 2-4.

3. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 1 wherein R1 is a radical of the formula:

R 4 —(C═O) a —X—(C═O) b —(CH 2 ) n —

wherein R 4 comprises alkyl having 5-20 carbon atoms, X is NH, a and b are 0 or 1 with the proviso that a+b=1, and n is 3.

4. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 1 wherein R 2 and R 3 are independently selected from saturated or unsaturated, branched or unbranched, cyclic or acyclic, alkyl or hydroxyalkyl radical having 1 to 4 carbon atoms.

5. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 1 wherein R 2 and R 3 are each independently selected from alkyl or hydroxyalkyl radicals having 1 to 2 carbon atoms.

6. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 1 wherein the fluoropolymer solids content is about is about 10 to about 70 wt %.

7. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 1 wherein said amine oxide surfactant is present in an of amount about 0.05 to about 15 wt % based on the weight of fluoropolymer solids.

8. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 1 wherein said amine oxide surfactant is present in an amount of about 0.1 to about 10 wt % based on the weight of fluoropolymer solids.

9. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 1 wherein said amine oxide surfactant is present in an amount of about 0.5 to about 5 wt % based on the weight of fluoropolymer solids.

10. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 1 wherein said fluoropolymer comprises a polymer selected from homopolymers and copolymers of tetrafluoroethylene.

11. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 10 wherein said fluoropolymer is selected from polytetrafluoroethylene and modified polytetrafluoroethylene.

12. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 10 wherein said fluoropolymer is a melt-processible copolymer comprising at least about 40-98 mol % tetrafluoroethylene units and about 2-60 mol % of at least one other monomer.

13. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 12 wherein said at least one other monomer comprises at least one perfluorinated monomer.

14. The aqueous fluoropolymer dispersion of claim 1 wherein said fluoropolymer particles have a number average particle size of about 10 to about 400 nm.