Tiwari M.K., Bayer I.S., Megaridis C.M.
University of Illinois at Chicago, US
Keywords: adhesion, cyanoacrylate, large area, PVDF, superhydrophobic
A class of polymer nanocomposites consisting of all biocompatible components has been developed for large area coating applications. The coatings are made possible by solution blending of poly (vinylidine fluoride) (PVDF) with polymerized ethyl cyanoacrylate. The blending is accomplished by a novel control of the cyanoacrylate (CA) polymerization in the presence of a suitable co-solvent medium. CAs in the blend improve the filler dispersion quality and being ferroelectric provide a good functional alternative poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), a commonly used adhesion promoter in PVDF based coatings. Additional biocompatible fillers such as nanoparticles of ZnO, and/or microparticles of PTFE are also used. The mixtures were applied by spray casting and cured at 100°C for ~ 1 hour. The process is easily scalable and well suited for large area coating applications. The presence of fillers results in formation of nanocomposite films with hierarchical surface morphology possessing micro to nanoscale roughness. Wettability of the films could be tuned from partially hydrophilic to superhydrophobic by changing filler content. It is believed that such novel PVDF based nanocomposites can be used as functional and biocompatible coatings in medical technology, fluid power and construction industry, in microelectronics and as traditional food packaging and textiles coatings.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Nanotechnology 2009: Biofuels, Renewable Energy, Coatings, Fluidics and Compact Modeling
Published: May 3, 2009
Pages: 188 - 191
Industry sector: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
Topic: Coatings, Surfaces & Membranes
ISBN: 978-1-4398-1784-1