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Review of Scientific Instruments / Volume 80 / Issue 2 / CONDENSED MATTER; MATERIALS

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 80, 023903 (2009); doi:10.1063/1.3078009 (5 pages)

Automated spin-assisted layer-by-layer assembly of nanocomposites

Steven Vozar1, Yeh-Chuin Poh1, Thomas Serbowicz1, Matthew Bachner1, Paul Podsiadlo2, Ming Qin2, Eric Verploegen3, Nicholas Kotov2, and A. John Hart1

1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
2Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

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(Received 11 November 2008; accepted 13 January 2009; published online 11 February 2009)

We present the design and verification of a desktop system for the automated production of nanostructured thin films via spin-assisted layer-by-layer (spin-LBL) assembly. The utility of this system is demonstrated by fabricating polyvinyl alcohol/clay nanocomposites. Ellipsometry measurements demonstrate that the automated spin-LBL method creates composites with bilayer thickness and growth rate comparable to traditional dip-LBL; however, the cycle time of the spin-LBL method is an order of magnitude faster. Small angle X-ray scattering analysis shows that the clay platelets in spin-LBL nanocomposites are more highly aligned than in dip-LBL composites. This method can significantly increase the throughput of laboratory-scale LBL discovery and processing, can enable testing of functional properties of LBL nanocomposites over wafer-scale areas, and can be scaled to larger substrates for commercial production.

© 2009 American Institute of Physics

Article Outline

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. SYSTEM DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
  3. CALIBRATION AND OPERATION
    1. Flow calibration
    2. Film production
  4. FABRICATION OF POLYVINYL ALCOHOL/CLAY NANOCOMPOSITES
    1. Materials and methods
    2. Film characterization
  5. CONCLUSIONS

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

clay, ellipsometry, nanocomposites, nanotechnology, polymers, X-ray scattering

PACS

  • 81.07.-b

    Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization

  • 81.16.-c

    Methods of micro- and nanofabrication and processing

  • 78.70.Ck

    X-ray scattering

ARTICLE DATA

Permalink
http://link.aip.org/link/doi/10.1063/1.3078009

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN:

0034-6748 (print)  
1089-7623 (online)

Publisher:

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Institute of Physics

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