Spatially Organized Polymer Films Prepared by Oblique Angle Polymerization

We developed a novel, bottom-up method to prepare nanostructured poly($p$-xylylene) (PPX) films called oblique angle polymerization (OAP). In OAP, the monomer vapor flux is directed at an angle ($<$ 10$^{o})$ to the substrate. The morphology of the film is influenced by the combination of nucleation, surface diffusion and geometrical self-shadowing. The final nanostructure consists of 40 $\times $ 10$^{6}$ /mm$^{2}$ obliquely aligned, quasi-periodic PPX nanowires on the substrate[1]. The nanostructure can be controlled by tuning the physical deposition parameters and/or the monomer chemistry. Functional materials prepared by depositing conformal metal layer on these nanostructured PPX films have opened new avenues of application in the areas of biodetection[2] and catalysis[3]. [1] Cetinkaya, M., Malvadkar, N., Demirel, M. J. Poly. Sci. B, 46, 640 (2008). [2] Kao, P., Malvadkar N., Wang, H., Allara, D., Demirel, M. Adv. Mat., 20, 3562 (2008). [3] Malvadkar, N., Park, S., MacDonald, M., Wang, H., Demirel, M. J. Power Sources, 182, 323 (2008). {\copyright} 2008 Elsevier