Inorganic Thin Film Deposition and Application on Organic Polymer Substrates

Abstract

This review details the emerging area of inorganic thin film coatings on polymer substrates, from examples of applications through to the fabrication processes and the underlying growth mechanism(s). Of particular focus is the use of physical vapor deposition to deposit thin metal and/or metal oxide films onto polymeric materials. This primary focus highlights an area of research, that is, gaining in popularity, as researchers attempt to provide insight into the adaption of a well-established manufacturing process to be compatible with the ever expanding range of polymer substrates. The motivation for doing so comes from the evolution of existing industry (i.e., the semi-conductor sector) to fabricate new devices (i.e., flexible electronics). In addition, the research challenges faced in achieving evaporated and sputtered thin film coatings on polymeric substrates, such as mechanical and thermal considerations will be discussed. a) Metals do not display a glass transition temperature; b) amorphous polymers that do not display crystallite melting; c) semicrystalline polymers.Figure 1 5. Possible mechanisms for the nucleation and growth of sputtered nanoparticles into IL substrate. Reproduced with permission from ref.[104]

Distortion‐Free Stretchable Light‐Emitting Diodes via Imperceptible Microwrinkles

“…One of the plausible causes seems to be the delamination at the metal/polymer interface due to the weak interfacial adhesion. [ 31–33 ] The nonemissive areas appear at the initial stage of as‐released wrinkled PLEDs which can be observed in highly magnified optical images (Figure S1 in the Supporting Information), propagating spatially as the cyclic stress is accumulated. So, altering the cathode to more flexible materials such as organic‐based materials would improve the mechanical properties.…”

Continuous Flow Routes toward Designer Metal Nanocatalysts

“…[33] If these factors are not met, Volmer-Weber growth or Stanski-Krastanow growth could dominate, eliminating conformal epitaxial growth and giving rise to different overall shapes and architectures of the NPs. [34] These type of predictive guidelines are important considerations when designing NPs for catalytic applications.…”

“…For epitaxial layered growth of one metal on a seed of another metal, i) the lattice constants of the two metals should be comparable, with the lattice mismatch smaller than about 5%; ii) the electronegativity of the shell metal should be lower than the core metal in order to avoid the displacement reaction and to easily wet the surface of the core; iii) the bond energy between the metal atoms of the shell should be smaller than that between the shell atoms and substrate atoms in order to ensure the Frank–van der Merwe layer‐by‐layer growth . If these factors are not met, Volmer–Weber growth or Stanski–Krastanow growth could dominate, eliminating conformal epitaxial growth and giving rise to different overall shapes and architectures of the NPs . These type of predictive guidelines are important considerations when designing NPs for catalytic applications.…”

Poly(P‐Phenylene Terephthalamide) Fibers Reinforced with Ultrathin Ceramic Coatings

“…However, the higher weight and reduced flexibility of these composites prevent the extended use of this approach. [21][22][23][24] Therefore, a new method that maximizes the mechanical properties without damaging the flexibility of the fibers using an economical process is a preresiquite for improing the curernt PPTA fibers.…”