Roll-to-Roll Vapor Deposition of Hydrophobic and Transparent Nano-Adhesive Polymeric Thin Films on Rigid and Flexible Substrates

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the adhesive and hydrophobic modifications of glass, poly(ethylene terephthalate), and bamboo fabric surfaces using the initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) process. iCVD of functional thin films is an all-dry and low-temperature alternative to the conventional wet coating processes. The as-deposited film is a terpolymer in which ethylhexyl acrylate and acrylic acid units comprised the pressuresensitive adhesive (PSA) part, while perfluorodecyl acrylate (PFDA) acted as the hydrophobic part due to its low surface energy fluorinated side groups. The PFDA composition in the iCVD terpolymer can be systematically varied by adjusting the initial gas feed fractions of monomers, as verified from FTIR and XPS analyses. The usage of the initiator tertbutyl peroxide during the depositions resulted in high deposition rates up to 80 nm/min at a filament temperature of 230 °C. The as-deposited films possessed high optical transparency with high shear and peel strength values. Depending on the chemical composition, the peel strength values were up to 0.5 N/25 mm on flexible PET substrates. After the coating, the highly porous bamboo surface not only became sticky due to the existence of the thin PSA layer on top but also the became near-superhydrophobic. The application of iCVD coating parameters to deposit hydrophobic PSA on moving large-area substrates under roll-to-roll deposition mode resulted in highly uniform coatings, which shows the potential of iCVD to be operated in industrial scales to functionalize the industrially important flexible substrates.

Adaptive Ion Channels Formed in Ultrathin and Semicrystalline Polymer Interphases for Stable Aqueous Batteries

“…29,32 Under these conditions, we achieved a deposition rate of 35 nm/min, translating to a 5 min preparation time for the conformal pPFDA interphases, starting from the small-molecule precursors. The iCVD technique has also been demonstrated in a roll-to-roll configuration, 33 pointing to scalable semicontinuous manufacturing of these interphases.…”

“…Furthermore, high filament temperatures are believed to lead to bilayer pPFDA crystals oriented parallel to the substrate surface and films with enhanced smoothness and conformality, ensuring its conformality on the MnO 2 cathode. , Under these conditions, we achieved a deposition rate of 35 nm/min, translating to a 5 min preparation time for the conformal pPFDA interphases, starting from the small-molecule precursors. The iCVD technique has also been demonstrated in a roll-to-roll configuration, pointing to scalable semicontinuous manufacturing of these interphases.…”

“…In iCVD, polymer synthesis and coating application occur in a single step and in a single chamber, thus incurring minimal operational costs. The iCVD technology has been scaled up to enable semicontinuous manufacturing in a roll-to-roll fashion (by Karaman and co-workers 33 and Cheng and Gupta 45 ), which is compatible with the flexible Zn anode and MnO 2 cathode materials. We designed a series of pPFDA interphases with varying crystallinity and unraveled their effects on the interfacial stability and electrochemical properties of the electrodes using Zn−MnO 2 aqueous batteries as an example.…”

Designing Organic and Hybrid Surfaces and Devices with Initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD)

“…[ 124 ] Copyright 2022, Elsevier B.V. C) A large scale roll‐to‐roll iCVD reactor for growth of PSAs (Section 11.4), Reproduced with permission. [ 128 ] Copyright 2022, American Chemical Society.…”

“…Roll‐to‐roll deposition of PSAs using iCVD is a promising technique for large‐scale commercial applications. [ 128 ] An iCVD chamber with a roll‐to‐roll assembly (Figure 12C) achieved uniform deposition onto moving flexible substrates, including bamboo fabric and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The cooling plate in the reactor can contact the substrate over an area of up to 40 cm wide and 60 cm long.…”