POROUS POLYMER STRUCTURES AND METHODS AND ARTICLES RELATING THERETO
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- cooling a substrate to a temperature at or below a freezing point of a monomer, wherein the monomer is capable of free-radical polymerization;
exposing the substrate to an initiator and the monomer, each in a vapor phase, wherein a concentration of the monomer in the vapor phase is above a saturation pressure of the monomer;
converting the initiator to a free radical;
crystalizing and depositing the monomer on the substrate; and
polymerizing at least some of the monomer on the substrate, thereby forming a porous polymer structure on the substrate.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A porous polymer structure may be formed by cooling a substrate to a temperature at or below a freezing point of a monomer, wherein the monomer is capable of free-radical polymerization; exposing the substrate to an initiator and the monomer, each in a vapor phase, wherein a concentration of the monomer in the vapor phase is above a saturation pressure of the monomer; converting the initiator to a free radical; crystalizing and depositing the monomer on the substrate; and polymerizing at least some of the monomer on the substrate, thereby forming a porous polymer structure on the substrate.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
cooling a substrate to a temperature at or below a freezing point of a monomer, wherein the monomer is capable of free-radical polymerization; exposing the substrate to an initiator and the monomer, each in a vapor phase, wherein a concentration of the monomer in the vapor phase is above a saturation pressure of the monomer; converting the initiator to a free radical; crystalizing and depositing the monomer on the substrate; and polymerizing at least some of the monomer on the substrate, thereby forming a porous polymer structure on the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A method comprising:
-
cooling a substrate to a temperature at or below a freezing point of a first monomer, wherein the first monomer is capable of free-radical polymerization; exposing the substrate to a first initiator and the first monomer, each in a vapor phase, wherein a concentration of the first monomer in the vapor phase is above a saturation pressure of the first monomer; converting the first initiator to a first free radical; crystalizing and depositing the first monomer on the substrate; polymerizing at least some of the first monomer on the substrate, thereby forming a porous polymer structure on the substrate; cooling the porous polymer structure to a temperature at or below a freezing point of a second monomer, wherein the second monomer is capable of free-radical polymerization; exposing the porous polymer structure to a second initiator and the second monomer, each in the vapor phase, wherein a concentration of the second monomer in the vapor phase is above a saturation pressure of the second monomer; depositing the second monomer as on the porous polymer structure; polymerizing at least some of the second monomer on the porous polymer structure, thereby producing the porous polymer structure with a first layer comprising a polymer of the first monomer and a second layer comprising a polymer of the second monomer.
-
-
20. An article comprising:
-
a porous polymer structure that comprises microstructures that comprise a polymer, wherein the polymer is a polymerization product of reactants that comprise a free radical and a monomer; and wherein the porous polymer structure has two types of pores;
(1) intracrystalline pores within the microstructures; and
(2) intercrystalline pores between the microstructures, wherein a pore size of at least some of the intracrystalline pores is about 10 nm to about 10 microns, and wherein a pore size of at least some of the intercrystalline pores is about 1 micron to about 500 microns.
-
Specification