Aerosol assisted depositions of polymers using an atomiser delivery system

The hydrophobicity, robustness and anti-microbial properties of Sylgard 184 polymer films deposited via AACVD were optimised by using aerosol droplets from an atomiser delivery system, polymer coating substrates and the swell encapsulation of methylene blue. By using an atomiser deposition system (average droplet size 0.35 microm) rather than a misting aerosol system (45 microm) lead to a surface with smaller surface features, which improved hydrophobicity (water contact angle 165 degrees) in addition to increasing the films transparency from ca 10 to 65%. Pre-treating the substrates with the same Sylgard 184 elastomer lead to a highly consistent surface hydrophobicity and an increase in average water contact angle measured (169 degrees). This paper shows the first example of dye incorporation in a CVD derived polymer film-these films have potential as antimicrobial surfaces.