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An Alternative Route Towards Metal–Polymer Hybrid Materials Prepared by Vapor‐Phase Processing
Author(s) -
Lee SeungMo,
Ischenko Vladislav,
Pippel Eckhard,
Masic Admir,
Moutanabbir Oussama,
Fratzl Peter,
Knez Mato
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201100384
Subject(s) - materials science , polymer , attenuated total reflection , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , raman spectroscopy , metal , oxide , polytetrafluoroethylene , chemical engineering , atomic layer deposition , hybrid material , transition metal , phase (matter) , chemical vapor deposition , nanotechnology , composite material , layer (electronics) , organic chemistry , metallurgy , optics , chemistry , physics , engineering , catalysis
Transition metals incorporated into polymers lead to unusual or improved physical properties that significantly differ from those of purely organic polymers. A simple and practicable incorporation of diverse transition metals into any available polymer would make an important contribution to overcome some of the synthetic difficulties of metal‐polymer hybrid materials. Here, it is demonstrated that atomic layer deposition (ALD) can be a promising means to resolve some of those difficulties. It is found that even polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) with its great physical and chemical stability can be easily transformed into a transition metal–PTFE hybrid material simply by applying a metal‐oxide ALD process to PTFE. Upon metal incorporation into the PTFE, the molecular structure as well as mechanical properties (tensile behavior) of PTFE were observed to significantly change. For a better understanding of the changes to the material, experimental investigations using Raman spectroscopy, attenuated‐total‐reflection Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, and energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis were performed. In addition, with density functional theory calculations, potential bonding states of the incorporated metal into PTFE were modeled and predicted. The ALD‐based vapor‐phase approach for metal incorporation into a polymer could bring about rapid progress in the research area of metal–polymer hybrid materials.