Green Technology

Univeristy of Delaware chemist, Chris Snively, and professor of chemical engineering, Jochen Lauterbach, discover green polymer process that is solvent free and requires limited energy to activate the polymerization reaction. ...

... "Their deposition-polymerization (DP) process takes place in a vacuum chamber, where the air is pumped out and the pressure is similar to outer space. The material to be coated, such as a piece of metal, is placed in the chamber, and the metal is cooled below the monomer's freezing point, which causes the monomer vapor to condense on the metal. Then the resulting film is exposed to ultraviolet light to initiate polymerization. The two-step process allows for the formation of uniform, defect-free films with thicknesses that can be controlled to within billionths of a meter. The process is fairly green, in that not only are no solvents used, but there also is very low energy consumption using this method, according to Lauterbach." ...

Via NewsWire, Univ of Delaware Release: Read