Divinylbenzene Foam Films

Divinylbenzene (DVB) foam is a common material used for ICF targets. It is formed by the crosslinking radical reaction of DVB while in a solvent and then dried in a supercritical fluid. When it is cast on most substrates, the flat film is difficult to release. Coated mold release agents are unacceptable because they will contaminate the foam. At Schafer Laboratories, a method has been developed to chemically modify a glass substrate with a monolayer of a silane coupling reagent that creates a substrate that the foam will not stick to. This provides superior results and the ability to make flat DVB films easily that are large enough to make targets out of. This work is supported under DOE DE-AC03-01F22260.