(755b) Vapor Phase Polymerization Onto Liquid Surfaces

We will also present our recent work demonstrating deposition onto ionic liquid surfaces. Ionic liquids (ILs) have recently attracted significant interest as an environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional volatile organic solvents because ILs are non-volatile, non-flammable, and can be easily recycled. The low volatility of ILs allows for their use in vacuum processing. We will demonstrate that a variety of polymer architectures such as skins, particles, and free-standing films can be formed by tuning the reaction conditions, the monomer precursor, and the IL structure. The ability to controllably tailor polymer morphology allows for the design of ultrathin free-standing polymer films, core-shell particles, and polymer-IL composite materials. Encapsulating ILs in solid polymer shells may reduce the effect of their high viscosity which is a challenge in their implementation into industrial processes. We will demonstrate that we can completely encapsulate ionic liquid droplets within robust polymer shells. Polymer shells composed of 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl acrylate crosslinked with ethylene glycol diacrylate (P(PFDA-co-EGDA)) were found to be stronger than the respective homopolymers. Our encapsulation technique can be used to form polymer shells onto dozens of droplets at once and can be extended to encapsulate any low vapor pressure liquid that is stable under vacuum conditions.