Initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) is a polymer thin film synthesis technique that enables a high degree of compositional control in the deposited film without sacrificing deposition speed. This is achieved by introducing vapor-phase free radical monomers and initiators into a modified hot-wire CVD chamber. The heated filament imparts enough energy to homolytically cleave the peroxide initiator species into free radicals, while leaving the monomers chemically intact. The free radical species then react with monomer adsorbed on the substrate. Professor Tenhaeff developed novel iCVD films and processes for a number of applications for his Ph.D. thesis.
Relevant Publications
W. E. Tenhaeff, L. D. McIntosh, K. K. Gleason, Synthesis of Poly(4-Vinylpyridine) Thin Films by Initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (Icvd) for Selective Nanotrench-Based Sensing of Nitroaromatics, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2010, 20, 1144-1151. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adfm.200901890.
W. E. Tenhaeff, K. K. Gleason, Surface-Tethered Ph-Responsive Hydrogel Thin Films as Size-Selective Layers on Nanoporous Asymmetric Membranes, Chem. Mat. 2009, 21, 4323-4331. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/cm9023474.
W. E. Tenhaeff, K. K. Gleason, Initiated and Oxidative Chemical Vapor Deposition of Polymeric Thin Films: Icvd and Ocvd, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2008, 18, 979-992. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adfm.200701479.
Current Projects
1. Novel initiated chemical vapor deposition synthetic strategies for further enhancements polymer compositions and structures