Patterning of soft matter provides an exceptional route for the generation of micro/nanostructured and functional surfaces. We describe a general, simple and exceptionally well-controlled patterning approach for photocurable monomers based on frontal photopolymerization (FPP). FPP is a significant case of photopolymerization reaction, where illumination results in the development of a solidification front which propagates in the form of a planar wave, invading the monomer bath.<br/>The general patterning strategy for FPP presented in this work is applicable to the fabrication of polymeric structures with prescribed dimensions set by the illumination field. This approach holds for a range of radical photopolymerizing systems, including thiol-ene and acrylic monomers. The factors governing the planar solidification process, including front position, profile shape and thermal effects, are explicitly investigated and quantified. We find the FPP process to be controlled by tuning selected photopolymerization parameters, such as monomer chemistry, optical properties, time and intensity of irradiation, in a remarkably general and simple fashion. A minimal model accurately describes the frontal solidification kinetics and we propose a unified mathematical expression for patterning via FPP. Building on this understanding, we design and fabricate polymeric patterns with well-defined dimensions from representative radical photopolymerizing systems using our predictive FPP approach.

Unified approach for polymeric patterning via controlling the propagation of frontal photopolymerization waves

251st National Meeting (2016)

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