Evidences for liquid encapsulation in PMMA ultra-thin film grown by liquid injection Photo-CVD

Claudiu Constantin Manole (1, 2) , Olivier Marsan (1) , Cedric Charvillat (1) , Ioana Demetrescu (2) , Francis Maury (1)

1 CIRIMAT - Centre interuniversitaire de recherche et d'ingenierie des matériaux
2 UPB - University Politehnica of Bucharest [Romania]

This paper deals with the characterization of ultra-thin films of PMMA grown by an original photoassisted Chemical Vapor Deposition process equipped with a pulsed liquid injection system to deliver the monomer. The nanometric thick films showed a good ability to encapsulate a liquid phase as microdroplets protected by a thin polymeric tight membrane in the form of blisters. Techniques that are capable to analyze these heterogeneous structures at micro- and nanoscopic scale such as Raman Confocal Spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy were used to characterize these polymer films. The liquid droplets were found to be monomer encapsulated by a PMMA film. The specific properties of these ultra-thin films exhibit self-healing capabilities at microscopic scale making them attractive for functionalization of surfaces and interfaces.

Mots clés: Poly(methyl methacrylate); Photo-CVD; Direct Liquid Injection; Raman Confocal Spectroscopy; Atomic Force Spectroscopy

Domaines: Matériaux; Matériaux

Claudiu Constantin Manole, Olivier Marsan, Cedric Charvillat, Ioana Demetrescu, Francis Maury. Evidences for liquid encapsulation in PMMA ultra-thin film grown by liquid injection Photo-CVD. Progress in Organic Coatings, 2013, vol. 76 (n° 12), pp. 1846-1850. ⟨10.1016/j.porgcoat.2013.05.027⟩. ⟨hal-01218622⟩