Name: Nastasia Okulova
Project Title: Extrusion coating of functional nano-structures in polymer foils
Group: Polymer Micro and Nano Engineering
Supervisor: Rafael Taboryski
Project Description:
Up to date there have been found many ways of producing samples with functional nano-patterning. However for mass production of such samples the method of fabrication of the surface structure must be fast and cheap. A recently developed method suggests using extrusion coating of polymer materials in a roll-to roll process, where the functional micro/nano surface structures are imprinted directly onto the surface of a polymer foil. This new technology can both answer the requirement for being fast and cheap. The aim of this project is implementation of the technology for mass production and it is carried out in collaboration with Danapak Flexibles A/S.
Perspective:
The following topics are the main focus of this research. To start with, a systematic study of different polymer types is carried out for extrusion coating and the contact angle is measured to determine the surface energy of the extruded polymers. At the same time the rheological properties of polymers for extrusion coating are determined and their ability to form micro- or nano-sized surface structures are examined. Afterwards the different types of functional nano-structures will be tried out, based on the results from the above. The suggested focus areas are the self-cleaning structures (repelling water, oils, dirt), structural colouring and researching the possibility for antistatic surface properties due to the surface structure.
Your imagination is the only limiting factor for the possible applications of such nano-structured polymer foils. For example the superhydrophobic surfaces in the foils can both be used for food packaging or, if durable, for outside use on trains, windows or even for anti-icing purposes on the wind turbine blades or plane wings.