An Alternative Route Towards Metal–Polymer Hybrid Materials Prepared by Vapor‐Phase Processing

Abstract

Transition metals incorporated into polymers lead to unusual or improved physical properties that significantly differ from those of purely organic polymers. A simple and practicable incorporation of diverse transition metals into any available polymer would make an important contribution to overcome some of the synthetic difficulties of metal‐polymer hybrid materials. Here, it is demonstrated that atomic layer deposition (ALD) can be a promising means to resolve some of those difficulties. It is found that even polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) with its great physical and chemical stability can be easily transformed into a transition metal–PTFE hybrid material simply by applying a metal‐oxide ALD process to PTFE. Upon metal incorporation into the PTFE, the molecular structure as well as mechanical properties (tensile behavior) of PTFE were observed to significantly change. For a better understanding of the changes to the material, experimental investigations using Raman spectroscopy, attenuated‐total‐reflection Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, and energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis were performed. In addition, with density functional theory calculations, potential bonding states of the incorporated metal into PTFE were modeled and predicted. The ALD‐based vapor‐phase approach for metal incorporation into a polymer could bring about rapid progress in the research area of metal–polymer hybrid materials.

Dye adsorption on zinc oxide nanoparticulates atomic‐layer‐deposited on polytetrafluoroethylene membranes

“…The expansion was caused by the infiltration of Zn atoms into PTFE lattice during the ALD deposition process. 25,26 This result confirms the occurrence of subsurface nucleation at the initial stage as described above. Moreover, two new diffraction peaks centering around 34.48 and 47.58 in the enlarged XRD patterns can be clearly observed after deposition with >60 ALD cycles.…”

Tuning the Tensile Strength of Cellulose through Vapor-Phase Metalation

“…Infiltration has also been demonstrated on several synthetic polymer systems including polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyamide-6 (PA6), various polyesters (PBT, PET, PLA), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE), and polyethylene oxide (PEO). [5][6][7][8][9][10] Infiltration investigations with biopolymers have been somewhat more limited and include the previously mentioned spider silk 3,11 and egg collagen. 11,12 Vapor phase interactions with cellulose have only been studied via standard ALD processes.…”

Photoluminescence Mechanism and Photocatalytic Activity of Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Materials Formed by Sequential Vapor Infiltration

“…6−9 Organometallic precursors reacting with functional groups within the polymers form organic−inorganic hybrid materials in the subsurface regions of the polymer. 8 The concept of precursor infiltration has inspired new techniques to create organic−inorganic hybrid materials, including techniques such as multiple pulsed vapor phase infiltration, 10,11 sequential infiltration synthesis, 12,13 and sequential vapor infiltration (SVI).…”