<p>Melting gels are a class of hybrid organic-inorganic gels prepared via the sol-gel process that are solid below their glass transition temperatures, near room temperature, but show thermoplastic behavior when heated. While this phase change can be repeated multiple times, heating the gel past its consolidation temperature, typically above 100 <sup>o</sup>C initiates an irreversible reaction that produces highly crosslinked glassy organic/inorganic materials via hydrolysis and condensation. This ability makes melting gels uniquely compatible with processing techniques inaccessible to other sol-gels. By properly tuning their properties, it should be possible to create protective coatings for electronics and anti-corrosive coatings for metals that are highly hydrophobic and insulating. However, melting gel consolidation reactions are highly dependent on charge interactions, raising the question of how these materials will respond to a processing technique, like electrospray deposition (ESD), which is dependent on charge delivery. In this study, we focus on the role that substrate temperature and charge polarity play on film morphology, consolidation chemistry, and surface properties when processing via ESD. Optical images, film thickness measurements, nanoindentation, and FTIR were used to characterize the sprayed melting gel with the goal of developing a robust processing space for producing highly cross linked, hydrophobic, dielectric coatings.</p>

Parametric Control of Melting Gel Morphology and Chemistry via Electrospray Deposition

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/MSEC/MSEC2021/volume/85062

2021 International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC2021)

Supporting the need among researchers worldwide for additional online and multimedia content, ASME now offers the ASME Conference Video Collection. This platform will collect and provide long-term access to conference presentation videos, encompassing all technology areas within ASME's technical conference and events program. About 30,000-40,000 engineers across all mechanical engineering and related disciplines participate in ASME conferences each year. This includes authors of approximately 6,000 to 8,000 technical papers published by ASME, the majority of whom also submit video presentations for our virtual conferences. The video collection will be available as an add-on to existing product packages or as a separate subscription.