Producing a microstructured film, comprises hardening a film-forming substance with pore inducer and/or pores partially embedded in the film-forming substance, and structurally applying a supporting substance on the film-forming substance

Simple SummaryContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

This patent describes a method for making microstructured films. The process includes hardening a film-forming material containing pores or pore inducers, then applying and hardening a supporting or pore-closing substance in specific patterns to build up a layered, durable microstructured film. The structure and properties of the film can be controlled through multi-layering and various application techniques, such as inkjet or printing methods.

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

• Filtration membranes for water or air purification
• Microscale patterned substrates for biological or chemical sensors
• Barrier films with controlled permeability
• Templates for microfluidic devices
• Support films for catalysis or separation processes

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Allows precise control over microstructure and porosity
• Enables multi-layer and hierarchical structuring for enhanced functionality
• Adaptable to different application methods (inkjet, printing) for scalability
• Improves durability and mechanical stability of thin films
• Can be tailored for specific filtration, sensing, or membrane applications

Technical Classifications (CPCs)

Inventors & Applicants

Patent Abstract

The process for producing a microstructured film (9), comprises hardening a film-forming substance (4) with pore inducer (2) and/or pores (8) partially embedded in the film-forming substance, and structurally applying a supporting substance (7) on the film-forming substance, where a local deformation of the film-forming substance is caused and/or are formed on the film-forming substance of the hardenable deposits. The supporting substance is hardened under the formation of the microstructured film, which contains hardened film-forming substance and hardened supporting substance. The process for producing a microstructured film (9), comprises hardening a film-forming substance (4) with pore inducer (2) and/or pores (8) partially embedded in the film-forming substance, and structurally applying a supporting substance (7) on the film-forming substance, where a local deformation of the film-forming substance is caused and/or are formed on the film-forming substance of the hardenable deposits. The supporting substance is hardened under the formation of the microstructured film, which contains hardened film-forming substance and hardened supporting substance. The film-forming substance is provided with supporting characteristics, in which a hardenable supporting substance and/or a pore-closing substance as supporting substance are applied on the film-forming substance, which partially contains the pores. The pore-closing substance contains a solvent, which partially swells the film-forming substance, is partially evaporated, after which the pores partially closes by the deformation of the film-forming substance, and is partially introduced into the pores and remains in the pores. The pore-closing substance is introduced into the pores and then hardened in it, so that a surface of the hardened pore-closing substance concisely closes with a surface of the hardened film-forming substance. The hardenable supporting substance is applied as pore-closing substance on the surface of the film-forming substance. The hardening of the film-forming substance and the application of the pore-closing substance and/or the hardenable supporting substance on the film-forming substance take place separately from each other in a temporal manner. The pore-closing substance and/or the hardenable supporting substance are discretely or continuously applied on the film-forming substance using an inkjet technology in a drop-shaped manner. The pore-closing substance and/or the hardenable supporting substance are applied on the film-forming substance by a printing process. The film-forming substance is moved in the longitudinal- and/or transverse direction using a pressure head during the application of the pore-closing substance and/or the hardenable supporting substance, where the pressure head is filled with the pore-closing substance and/or the hardenable supporting substance. The pore-closing substance and/or the hardenable supporting substance do not completely cover the film-forming substance, and are applied on the film-forming substance in a honeycomb-shaped- and a cross-shaped manner. For the formation of the pores, the embedded pore inducers are removed from the film-forming substance before applying the pore-closing substance and/or the hardenable supporting substance and from the microstructured film after hardening the supporting substance. The hardenable supporting substance is applied on the film-forming substance in multi-layer coating steps that are temporally separated from each other, and is applied on several layers of the film-forming substance. The application of the film-forming substance and the supporting substance is successively repeated. A first layer of the hardenable supporting substance is applied on the film-forming substance and is partially hardened and a second layer of the hardenable supporting substance is applied on the first layer. The hardenable supporting substance is hardenable oil and monomer and/or polymer, which are provided with solvent and/or photoinitiator, and is applied, so that it forms a lateral structured layer and a continuous structure, which releases the openings, which pass through up to the film-forming substance. The successive applied layers of the hardenable supporting substance are not congruently applied to each other and have a structure divergent from each other. A hierarchical total structure is produced with the non-congruent structure on the film-forming substance by the successive application of the layers of the hardenable supporting substance. The film-forming substance is formed on a water surface. The film-forming substance is removed from the water surface after hardening and then the pore-closing substance and/or the hardenable supporting substance is applied on the film-forming substance. The pore inducer is silica gel particle and a mixture of monomer or polymer, solvent and photoinitiator is applied as film-forming substance on the water surface. For hardening the film-forming substance, the solvent is evaporated and the monomer or polymer is hardened. The silica gel particle is removed from the microstructured film, decomposes by a chemical process and is converted to volatile components in a gas phase reaction. An independent claim is included for a microstructured film.