skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Effect of transition metal salts on the initiated chemical vapor deposition of polymer thin films

Journal Article · · Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4915247· OSTI ID:22392178
; ;  [1]
  1. Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, 925 Bloom Walk, Los Angeles, California 90089 (United States)

In this work, the effect of transition metal salts on the initiated chemical vapor deposition of polymer thin films was studied using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The polymerizations of 4-vinyl pyridine and 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl acrylate were studied using copper(II) chloride (CuCl{sub 2}) and iron(III) chloride (FeCl{sub 3}) as the transition metal salts. It was found that the surface coverages of both poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (P4VP) and poly(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl acrylate) were decreased on CuCl{sub 2}, while the surface coverage of only P4VP was decreased on FeCl{sub 3}. The decreased polymer surface coverage was found to be due to quenching of the propagating radicals by the salt, which led to a reduction of the oxidation state of the metal. The identification of this reaction mechanism allowed for tuning of the effectiveness of the salts to decrease the polymer surface coverage through the adjustment of processing parameters such as the filament temperature. Additionally, it was demonstrated that the ability of transition metal salts to decrease the polymer surface coverage could be extended to the fabrication of patterned cross-linked coatings, which is important for many practical applications such as sensors and microelectronics.

OSTI ID:
22392178
Journal Information:
Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films, Vol. 33, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2015 American Vacuum Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0734-2101
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English