Method for Polymerization of Monomer and/or Oligomer Units by Infrared Light Pulses

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This invention provides a method of polymerizing monomer or oligomer units into polymers by using highly controlled infrared light pulses. Unlike traditional thermal methods, this technique uses ultrashort, intense, linearly polarized infrared pulses to directly trigger molecular bond activation, resulting in polymerization with minimal heat input. The approach allows for spatially precise and selective polymer formation, including the ability to tune properties in different directions and integrate microstructuring within the material.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Manufacturing microstructured polymers for microfluidic devices or lab-on-a-chip systems
• Producing plastics with customized areas of elasticity and rigidity for advanced engineering components
• Embedding durable, tamper-proof markings or information directly into plastic or polymer items
• Precision synthesis of polymers used in electronics, sensors, or biomedical devices
• Fabrication of anisotropic or directionally-tuned polymer materials for mechanical, optical, or other functional applications
• Rapid prototyping of complex polymer architectures at the micro- or nano-scale

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Enables highly localized and precise control of polymerization, allowing micro- and nano-scale structuring of materials
• Reduces or eliminates thermal damage and broad heating, preserving material properties and enabling sensitive applications
• Allows directional tuning of polymer properties (anisotropy), enabling creation of materials with differing characteristics in different directions
• Facilitates production of complex, multi-property plastics (e.g., regions that are elastic versus plastic) in a single process
• Speeds up polymerization processes via parallel use of multiple tailored infrared pulses
• Direct marking or patterning within polymers increases durability and resistance to wear compared to surface treatments

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Patent Abstract

The invention relates to a method for polymerizing monomer units and/or oligomer units. Said method is characterized in that the energy required for polymerization is introduced by means of infrared light pulses into the monomer units and/or oligomer units to be polymerized, wherein the infrared light pulses have a wavelength of 2500 to 20000 nm, an intensity of more than 1014 W/m2, a duration of more than 8 fs and less than 3 ps, and a substantially linear polarization. The invention further relates to a corresponding use of infrared light pulses.