Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a versatile technique for the synthesis of polymer thin films, including acrylates, methacrylates, vinyls, silicones, fluoropolymers, and conjugated polymers. Dicyanate ester polymers are thermosets that have better thermal stability, lower shrinkage, lower water adsorption, and lower dielectric constant than other thermosets such as epoxies. Due to their high strength-to-weight ratio and excellent thermal and mechanical stability, dicyanate ester thin films are of interest for use in high temperature electronic substrates and scratch resistant coatings. This work describes the first synthesis of dicyanate ester thin films using CVD. Two different monomers have been utilized, one a commercial bisphenol E resin, and the second 1,4-dicyanatobenzene, synthesized in-house. Curing studies compare the effect of the substrate on network formation and monomer to polymer conversion, and include silicon, copper, and room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) substrates. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy was used to determine conversion extent through the presence of triazine ring bonds and disappearance of cyanate ester bonds, while XPS also confirms the bonding environments present. SEM was used to study the morphology of the thin films. Future work includes using TGA, DSC, DMA, and AFM nanoindentation to study the thermal and mechanical properties of the thin films, where the more rigid network is expected to have improved properties over the commercial resin.

Chemical vapor deposition of dicyanate ester polymer films

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