Directed Deposition of Functional Polymers onto Porous Substrates Using Metal Salt Inhibitors

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the ability to control the location of polymer deposition onto porous substrates using vapor phase polymerization in combination with metal salt inhibitors. Functional polymers such as hydrophobic poly(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl acrylate), click-active poly(pentafluorophenyl methacrylate), and light-responsive poly(ortho-nitrobenzyl methacrylate) were patterned onto porous hydrophilic substrates using metal salts. A combinatorial screening approach was used to determine the effects of different transition metal salts and reaction parameters on the patterning process. It was found that CuCl2 and Cu(NO3)2 were effective at uniformly inhibiting the deposition of all three polymers through the depth of the porous substrate and along the entire cross section. This study offers a new and convenient method to selectively deposit a wide variety of functional polymers onto porous materials and will enable the production of next-generation multifunctional paper-based microfluidic devices, polymeric photonic crystals, and filtration membranes.

All‐Dry Fabrication of Poly(methacrylic acid)‐Based Membranes with Controlled Dissolution Behavior

“…The iCVD technique is able to produce conformal coatings on a wide range of substrates such as silica microtoroids, [15] carbon nanotubes, [16] elastomeric pillars, [17] and fibrous paper. [18,19] Recently, the iCVD technique has been extended from creating thin dense films to porous membranes by two different methods. Tao and Anthamatten [20] produced porous materials by intentionally condensing precursors and a porogen on the substrate and utilizing a phase separation mechanism.…”

Vapor-phase deposition of polymers as a simple and versatile technique to generate paper-based microfluidic platforms for bioassay applications

“…In their method, paper substrates were patterned through photolithography before polymer deposition. [26][27][28] Here we report a simple one-step method for the generation of paper-based microuidic platforms with a desired design based on vapor-phase polymerization of dichloro-[2,2]-paracyclophane. Hydrophilic channels and reaction zones on paper substrates were created with the help of metal masks that were made using a water jet cutting technique.…”

Vapor Deposition of Fluoropolymer Surfaces

“…Porous chromatography paper was patterned with p(PFDA) using metal salts. Since porous substrates do not allow using physical mask, metal salts were printed on the membranes inhibiting the polymerization process and thus, creating the pattern [44]. Ionic liquids (IL) were also modified using iCVD p(PFDA) [45,46].…”