Evolution of Micropores in Polymer-Polymer Composite Thin Films
Problem Statement
Research in micro-pore evolution in polymeric thin films have been driven by the need to develop novel techniques and methodology for use in applications such as drug delivery, membranes, superhydrophobic surfaces, and biological cell culture scaffolding. While numerous methodologies govern the growth of micro-pore structures, a controlled micro-porous Layer-By-Layer (LBL) polymeric film have been recently introduced1,2. Such LBL polymeric thin films display unique versatility and capacity to form multifunctional nanocomposites. As a result, a numerical model is important in understanding and predicting the creation, growth, and morphology of micropores in LBL polymeric multilayer assembly systems composed of different polymer compositions. Thus, to demonstrate such micropore evolution process, a finite element method (FEM) simulation is presented. Two theories drive the micropores' formation, namely (1) phase migration3 for the creation and growth of pores and (2) surface diffusion4 for morphological pore shape change.