APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:
- High-performance barrier coatings for packaging
- Electron barriers for use as dielectric capacitors in electronics
BENEFITS:
- Competitive performance with much thicker barrier layers made of fewer layers; ability to manufacture smaller electronics components
- Enhanced lifespan
- Recyclable
BACKGROUND:
Two-dimensional nanosheets hold significant promise for various multilayer thin film technologies, such as thin-film electronics, protective coatings, and flexible packaging. However, current methods of designing these nanomaterials are inflexible, making it difficult to integrate new chemical functionalities and accommodate different conditions. Moreover, guiding the growth of these nanomaterials across the nano-to-macro hierarchy remains challenging.
In contrast, entropy driven assemblies can allow for greater design flexibility.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW:
By programming entropy driven nanosheet growth, scientists at Berkeley Lab have developed high performance barrier coatings that protect against volatile organic compounds, water, and oxygen. The properties that these coatings exhibit make them appropriate for packaging and electron barrier applications.
These coatings are composed of dozens of stacked nanosheets (up to >200). The density of stacking defects is low, and the connectivity of the remaining defects can be controlled with high efficiency. They use high molecular weight polymers, demonstrating that polymer chain entanglements can be advantageous in realizing a long range order, accelerating the fabrication process, and satisfying other requirements in advancing multilayer thin film technology. Additionally, these coatings are amenable to cycles of assembly, disassembly, and reassembly without compromising structural integrity, which makes them recyclable. This could provide a solution to the recycling issues associated with existing multilayer thin film technologies.
DEVELOPMENT STAGE:
Laboratory scale
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS:
Ting Xu
Emma Vargo
Le Ma
IP Status:
Patent pending
OPPORTUNITIES:
Available for licensing or collaborative research