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Advanced Polymeric Films II

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Membranes and Films".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2024) | Viewed by 5217

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Guest Editor
Institute of Materials Science, Kaunas University of Technology, K. Baršausko 59, LT51423 Kaunas, Lithuania
Interests: thin film technology; superhydrophobic surfaces; imprint lithography; vacuum and plasma processes; e-beam lithography; self-healing polymers
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymeric films play an increasingly important role in our everyday lives. Films made of natural or synthetic polymers have traditionally been widely used for various passive applications, such as substrates, packaging, and protection against adverse environmental effects. Recent progress in the field has led to the synthesis of functional polymeric films with unusual electronic, optical, and mechanical properties. Such properties allow us to use the films as active components playing significant roles in improving the performance of materials and devices. Examples of functional applications include polymer sensors, stimuli-responsive materials, photovoltaic cells, functional surfaces with appropriate wettability, polymeric films with high dielectric and low loss properties, non-fouling biosurfaces, advanced membranes, and so on. Researchers are constantly expanding these applications through the development of new high-performance polymeric films for a wide variety of industrial and biomedical applications. Properties of thin polymeric films are often determined by the geometric constraints imposed by the presence of surfaces and interfaces. In many cases, the films are of complex composition with different types of polymers and other components, such as nanoparticles. Surface processing can be performed as well to cause desirable changes in chemicophysical and physicochemical properties of polymer surfaces.

This Special Issue is dedicated to recent achievements in the field of advanced polymeric films, including synthesis, fabrication, modification, and characterization, with an emphasis on the efficient and large-scale production of polymeric films for promising future applications. Papers related not only to pure polymers but also to tailor-made copolymers and composites are welcomed.

Dr. Dalius Jucius
Guest Editor

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • polymeric films
  • photocurable
  • self-healing
  • copolymer
  • nanocomposite
  • conducting polymer
  • piezoelectric
  • biodegradable
  • biomimetic
  • advanced membranes
  • multilayers
  • surface modification
  • electro-optical
  • processing technology
  • structured and functional surfaces
  • stimuli-responsive
  • antimicrobial
  • shape-memory
  • smart materials
  • packing film
  • morphology
  • coatings
  • superhydrophobicity
  • self-cleaning
  • biocompatible
  • patterning

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 6983 KiB  
Article
Response Surface Modelling Nafion-117 Sorption of Tetraammineplatinum(II) Chloride in the Electroless Plating of IPMCs
by Eyman Manaf, Golnoosh Abdeali, Sean Reidy, Clement L. Higginbotham and John G. Lyons
Polymers 2024, 16(16), 2338; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16162338 - 18 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 550
Abstract
This work looks at the effects of a varying concentration, soak time, pH and temperature on the sorption of tetraammineplatinum(II) chloride (Pt-Ammine) in Nafion-117 films in the context of the electroless plating of ionic polymer–metal composites (IPMCs). Sorption is characterised by atomic absorption [...] Read more.
This work looks at the effects of a varying concentration, soak time, pH and temperature on the sorption of tetraammineplatinum(II) chloride (Pt-Ammine) in Nafion-117 films in the context of the electroless plating of ionic polymer–metal composites (IPMCs). Sorption is characterised by atomic absorption spectroscopy. A definitive screening design carried out determined all four factors to be significant for further analysis using response surface modelling. A duplicated central composite design (CCD) was utilised to characterise how the four factors affect the sorption amount and efficiency. Regression models for both responses were of poor fit. Nevertheless, key insights were obtained on the effects of the process parameters on sorption behaviour. The results indicate that above 0.5 g/L Pt-Ammine sorption, the platinisation of 10 × 50 mm IPMC samples through sodium borohydride reduction becomes redundant by the surface resistance metric. IPMCs with surface resistance values of approximately 2.5 Ω/square were obtained through only one round of chemical reduction. Varying surface morphologies and electrode thicknesses were analysed under a scanning electron microscope. The CCD parameter settings were validated. Recommended settings for optimised Pt-Ammine sorption in 10 × 50 mm Nafion-117 films were identified as follows: 1.0 g/L Pt-Ammine concentration, 24 h soak time, pH of 3 and temperature of 20 °C. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymeric Films II)
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12 pages, 2554 KiB  
Article
Rubber-like PTFE Thin Coatings Deposited by Pulsed Electron Beam Deposition (PED) Method
by Agata Niemczyk, Roman Jędrzejewski, Joanna Piwowarczyk and Jolanta Baranowska
Polymers 2024, 16(9), 1205; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16091205 - 25 Apr 2024
Viewed by 933
Abstract
PTFE coatings were manufactured using the pulsed electron beam deposition (PED) technique and deposited on Si substrates. The deposition was carried out at constant parameters: temperature 24 °C, discharge voltages 12 kV, and 5000 electron pulses with a pulse frequency of 5 Hz. [...] Read more.
PTFE coatings were manufactured using the pulsed electron beam deposition (PED) technique and deposited on Si substrates. The deposition was carried out at constant parameters: temperature 24 °C, discharge voltages 12 kV, and 5000 electron pulses with a pulse frequency of 5 Hz. Nitrogen was used as the background gas. The gas pressure varied from 3 to 11 mTorr. The coating adhesion was evaluated using micro scratch testing and the residual scratch morphology was characterized by atomic force microscopy. Detailed studies of the chemical and physical structure were conducted using infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. These analyses were then correlated with the mechanical response of the coatings observed during the scratch tests. Drawing upon a review of the literature concerning energetic beam interactions with PTFE material, hypotheses were posed to explain why only specific conditions of the PED process yielded PTFE coatings with rubber-like properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymeric Films II)
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24 pages, 10468 KiB  
Article
Optical Anisotropy of Polyethylene Terephthalate Films Characterized by Spectral Means
by Mihaela Iuliana Avadanei, Dan Gheorghe Dimitriu and Dana Ortansa Dorohoi
Polymers 2024, 16(6), 850; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16060850 - 20 Mar 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1131
Abstract
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films are the subject of intensive research because of great interest in using them in applications, especially in medicine. From an optical point of view, PET films with a low degree of stretching can be considered uniaxial materials, for which [...] Read more.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films are the subject of intensive research because of great interest in using them in applications, especially in medicine. From an optical point of view, PET films with a low degree of stretching can be considered uniaxial materials, for which the determination of the linear birefringence and its dispersion is very important. Two methods were applied here for the estimation of these parameters: the ellipsometric method and the channeled spectra method. The ellipsometric method uses monochromatic radiation; therefore, the linear birefringence of the PET films is determined for a given value of the radiation wavelength. The channeled spectra method allows for the estimation of the linear birefringence and its dispersion for a large range of wavelengths in the visible spectrum. A decrease in both parameters with the increase in the wavelength was recorded. To evidence the microstructure of PET films and the conformational changes induced by elongation and to evaluate the degree of orientation, a polarized infrared spectral study in attenuated total reflection (ATR-FTIR) mode was performed. The dichroic ratio (between the absorbance measured with linearly polarized radiation parallel and orthogonal relative to the stretching direction, respectively) and the ATR absorbance ratio for the machine direction (MD) and transversal direction (TD) configurations both for the stretched and unstretched PET samples were measured. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymeric Films II)
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20 pages, 14750 KiB  
Article
Montmorillonite Exfoliation in LLDPE and Factors Affecting Its Orientation: From Monolayer to Multi-Nano-Layer Polymer Films
by Noémie Rivollier, René Schwiddessen, Geraldine Cabrera, Christelle Combeaud, Susan Schorr and Gilles Dennler
Polymers 2024, 16(2), 200; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16020200 - 9 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1783
Abstract
The motivations of the present work are to investigate the exfoliation of montmorillonite within a linear low-density polyethylene matrix and to control its orientation during the cast extrusion process. The first part is focused on the exfoliation of the montmorillonite through the melt [...] Read more.
The motivations of the present work are to investigate the exfoliation of montmorillonite within a linear low-density polyethylene matrix and to control its orientation during the cast extrusion process. The first part is focused on the exfoliation of the montmorillonite through the melt extrusion process. The accuracy and relevance of each method used to determine the exfoliation state of montmorillonite have been examined, thanks to X-ray diffraction, transmission electronic microscopy, and rheology. All these methods have presented limitations, but the combination of all leads to a better estimation of the exfoliation state. Finally, the orientation of the montmorillonite is quantified systematically by X-ray texture analysis and correlated with process parameters to discern which one is affecting their orientation. The results have demonstrated an enhancement of the “in-plane” orientation of the montmorillonite with the exfoliation, especially at high concentration and when combined with cast extrusion. Finally, in the multi-nano-layer polymer film configuration, the reduction of the individual layers 29 nm thickness leads to some orientation improvements. However, these improvements are almost at the same level as the concentration effect in a monolayer system. This work gives an overview of all the parameters needed to achieve a significant organo-modified montmorillonite “in-plane” orientation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymeric Films II)
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