Effects of Standing Waves on the Growth and Stability of Vapor Deposited Polymer Films

We demonstrate that liquid substrates can be agitated in situ via sound during vapor phase polymerization. The effects of standing waves on the growth of polymer films at the vapor–liquid interface were studied by depositing poly(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl acrylate) and poly(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl acrylate-co-ethylene glycol diacrylate) onto an agitated silicone oil lens. It was found that continuous polymer films could be formed by the addition of a cross-linker. We also tested the mechanical stability of the polymer films on agitated liquids and found that the robustness of the films increased with the addition of cross-linker and increasing film thickness.