Automatic Layer-By-Layer Dipping System For Functional Thin Film Coatings

A simple and very flexible automatic dipping machine was constructed for producing functional multilayer films on wide substrates via the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly technique. The proposed machine exhibits several features that allow a fully automated coating operation, such as various depositing recipes, control of the dipping depth and time, operating speed, and rinsing flow, air-assist drying nozzles, and an operation display. The machine uniformly dips a substrate into aqueous mixtures containing complementary (e.g., oppositely charged, capable of hydrogen bonding, or capable of covalent bonding) species. Between the dipping of each species, the sample is spray cleaned with deionized water and blow-dried with air. The dipping, rinsing, and drying areas and times are adjustable by a computer program. Graphene-based thin films up to ten-bilayers were prepared and characterized. This film exhibits the highly filled multilayer structures and low thermal resistance, indicating that the robotic dipping system is simple to produce functional thin film coatings with a variety of different layers.