Collaborative Research: Extrusion Roll Imprinting of High Fidelity Nano-scale Features on Continuously Moving Substrates

纳米级材料可能具有非凡的机械、光学、电学、磁学和热学性能。为了在广泛的应用中成功地利用这些有用的特性，必须以经济有效的方式可靠地形成纳米级特征，尤其是 10 nm 及以下。尽管存在用于复制纳米特征的连续卷对卷纳米压印工艺，但它们目前仅限于紫外光固化树脂。此外，复制的保真度需要相当大的改进。 该合作研究奖支持基础研究，为在任何类型的热塑性聚合物上可靠地连续印记纳米级特征提供所需的知识基础。能源、医疗保健、生物医学、化学、汽车、电信行业的众多一次性设备非常需要具有多种物理和化学特性的热塑性聚合物。 预计该项目的结果将为促进这种新型纳米制造技术成功向工业转移奠定科学基础。该项目将加强课程开发，特别是在纳米制造的跨学科领域。此外，它将通过多学科方法促进教学、培训和学习，并扩大包括女学生在内的代表性不足群体的参与。这项合作研究采用多学科方法来满足在挤出薄膜表面制造具有成本效益的纳米结构的需求。该项目将研究变温挤压辊压印工艺，作为可扩展纳米制造的明确途径。它将研究平面几何结构中具有微/纳米特征的带模具的制造，研究基于Leonov型连续体的本构模型以捕获卷对卷纳米压印过程中聚合物薄膜的非线性粘弹性行为，并进行分子动力学模拟以研究纳米腔填充过程。预计在连续压印过程中聚合物流动和变形的纳米级动力学方面将做出基本贡献。具体来说，该研究将加深对微/纳米变形的边界效应（包括壁滑移）、几何约束下聚合物链动力学、100 nm以下尺寸尺度的粘弹性、大分子非平衡变形的多尺度建模能力以及纳米制造中热机械历史的控制的理解。

Extraordinary mechanical, optical, electrical, magnetic, and thermal properties are possible in materials at the nano-scale. To successfully exploit these useful properties in a wide range of applications, nano-scale features, especially 10 nm and less, must be formed reliably and in a cost-effective manner. Although continuous, roll-to-roll nanoimprinting processes exist for replicating nanofeatures, they are currently limited to ultra violet light curable resins. Additionally, the fidelity of the replication needs considerable improvement. This collaborative research award supports fundamental research to provide the needed knowledge base for the investigation of continuous imprinting of nano-scale features on any type of thermoplastic polymers, reliably. Thermoplastic polymers with versatile physical and chemical properties are highly desired in numerous disposable devices for applications in energy, healthcare, biomedical, chemical, automotive, telecommunication industries. It is anticipated that the results of the project will form the scientific basis to facilitate successful transfer of this novel nanomanufacturing technology to industry. The project will augment curriculum development, particularly in the interdisciplinary area of nanomanufacturing. In addition, it will promote teaching, training, and learning through multidisciplinary approaches and broaden the participation of underrepresented groups including women students.This collaborative research uses a multidisciplinary approach to address the need to manufacture cost-effective nanostructures onto extruded film surfaces. The project will study the variotherm extrusion roll imprinting process as a clear path to scalable nanomanufacturing. It will investigate the fabrication of belt molds with micro/nano features from a planar geometry, study a Leonov type continuum-based constitutive model to capture the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of the polymer film during roll-to-roll nanoimprinting, and perform molecular dynamics simulation to study the nanocavity filling process. Fundamental contributions are anticipated in the nanoscale dynamics of polymer flow and deformation during continuous imprinting. Specifically, the research will advance understanding of boundary effects (including wall slip) on micro/nano deformation, dynamics of polymer chains under geometrical confinement, viscoelasticity in size scales below 100 nm, multiscale modeling capabilities for non-equilibrium deformation of macromolecules, and control of thermomechanical history in nanofabrication.