A series of polymers based on methylmethacrylate, butylacrylate, and omega-perfluorooctylalkylacrylate were prepared by radical polymerization. By changing both the length of the hydrocarbon spacer, between the fluorinated chain and the ester function of the fluorinated monomer, and its concentration, the surface properties of the resulting terpolymers were greatly influenced. Polymers containing small amounts of fluorinated comonomer units had considerably reduced surface energies compared to the copolymer poly (methylmethacrylate-co-butylacrylate) taken as reference. The outermost surface composition has been investigated by the XPS technique, confirming the strong fluorine enrichment. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.