Résumé
A thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) is a segmented polymer containing both elastomeric (or amorphous) domains characterized by a low glass transition temperature and crystalline (or thermoplastic) zones. After briefly recalling the commercially available nonfluorinated TPEs, this article displays the fluorinated TPEs which exhibit well-defined architectures: block copolymers synthesized by iodine transfer polymerization and graft copolymers. Beside these commercial TPEs, a wider series of synthetic fluorinated TPEs has also been obtained in academic or industrial laboratories. They can be composed of perfluoropolyethers, of telechelic oligomers based on fluoroalkenes, of fluorinated hybrid silicones endowed with remarkable rubbery plateau. The properties and applications of these high value added-fluoropolymers (involved in O-rings and gaskets for aerospaces or other biomedical items and even in high resistance coatings) are presented.