Polysiloxane nanofibers via surface initiated polymerization of vapor phase reagents: a mechanism of formation and variable wettability of fiber-bearing substrates.

A detailed study of polysiloxane nanofiber formation by surface initiated polymerization of vapor phase organotrichlorosilane reagents is presented. Substrate composition, substrate activation, reagent quantity, reaction pressure, and reaction time are parameters shown to influence nanofiber synthesis. Stepwise variation of the parameters isolates the role of each on polysiloxane nanofiber growth, and a mechanism for fiber formation is proposed based on these findings. Tunable aqueous wettability of the fibers is also demonstrated in this report, with contact angles varying from 85 degrees to 130 degrees +/- 2 degrees depending upon fiber surface density and length. Aqueous contact angles are further increased to >150 degrees by either solution functionalization of calcined fibers or copolymerization with an organofluorosilane

Formation and aqueous surface wettability of polysiloxane nanofibers prepared via surface initiated, vapor-phase polymerization of organotrichlorosilanes.

The formation of high aspect ratio organosiloxane fibers of nanodimensionality via the surface-induced vapor-phase polymerization of vinyltrichlorosilane is reported. We also demonstrate the versatility of our method by producing fibers of various densities, polydispersities, and lengths. Nanofibers were characterized using SEM, EDX, XPS, TOF-SIMS, and variable-angle FTIR. Advancing aqueous contact angle measurements were used to evaluate the nanofiber surface wettability.