Roll-to-roll vacuum deposition of organic thin films followed by in-line curing

Thesis

The process that is being investigated is a roll-to-roll vacuum deposition of a polymer film by evaporation of a liquid monomer followed by in-line curing. In the process, a continuous stream of an acrylate is introduced in a hot tank in order to be flash evaporated. Afterwards, the monomer vapor passes through a nozzle and is directed to a cooled, moving substrate where it re-condenses as a liquid monomer film. The deposition takes place in a vacuum chamber at approximately 10-4mbar. The moving substrate carrying the liquid film moves away from the evaporation source towards an ionizating radiation source, plasma or electron beam, inducing the curing and crosslinking of the liquid films, solidifying them to become a network polymer.

The research project is based on making a robust comparison of an acrylate-based coating cured with one of two power sources, plasma and electron-beam, with an investigation of the influence of process parameters on the materials properties. For the purpose of this line of research, the chemical used is a difunctional acrylate, TGPDA. The comparison will include a deep study on the chemical and physical properties obtained by different power sources, at different powers and radiation time. The aim of this part of the project is being able to link the parameters of the curing source with the polymer properties, i.e cross-linking density, curing degree, mechanical properties, topography and thickness. Furthermore, it would help in the better understanding of the cure control, particularly when investigating more advanced processes, such as the mixed materials and selective curing.

Authors: Alonso Herr, C

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-0np1vrao7
• Type of award: MSc by Research
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: polymers