Schaeffler iCVD Coating Machine

Author

Louis McGrathFollow

College

College of Engineering and Polymer Science

Date of Last Revision

2024-06-04 07:26:03

Major

Mechanical Engineering

Honors Course

497

Number of Credits

4

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Date of Expected Graduation

Spring 2024

Abstract

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is mutual technology used to deposit thin film through a gaseous phase by vaporizing the solid materials. This conventional process usually requires high thermal stability of the materials, which is not applicable for most of the polymeric materials. Therefore, a novel process, initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD) is developed by introducing the gaseous monument and initiator to form the thin film in-situ. By adjusting the free-radical polymerization in the vapor phase, a variety of thin and uniform polymer films can be achieved. Depending on the chemistry, iCVD has many categories. This report explains the design and assembly process of an iCVD machine to meet the company’s applications for polymer thin film deposition. The mass flow controlling, thermal management and vacuum monitoring system have been successfully designed and built. This enables the precise control the gaseous reactant feeding and film deposition rate. Meanwhile, the machine is mobile and modular, allowing for easy movement in the lab environment and future upgrades. The device will be used to characterize polymer coatings for use in coating metallic anode battery components to counteract harmful side reactions, thus increasing the feasibility of large-scale metallic anode solid-state battery production.

Research Sponsor

David Peters

First Reader

Rashid Farahati

Second Reader

Kewei Liu

Honors Faculty Advisor

Scott Sawyer

Proprietary and/or Confidential Information

No

Recommended Citation

McGrath, Louis, "Schaeffler iCVD Coating Machine" (2024). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 1849.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/1849