Polymer microfibers obtained using porous silicon templates

Abstract

The deposition of specific materials into ordered pores arranged in a regular lattice allows the fabrication of ordered fiber arrays. Porous silicon is an attractive candidate for use as a template because the porosity and pore size can be tuned. Polymer microfibers using macroporous silicon with various pore depths as template system is reported here. The method entails vacuum infiltration of a polymer solution into the pores of the template. Two different types of polymer were selected in order to obtain ordered arrays of fibers made from Poly(methyl) methacrylate) or Poly(dimethylsiloxane). Microtubes were obtained when we used a silicon membrane as a template, whereas microfibers were obtained when we used a silicon template with pores opened only at one end.

Peer Reviewed

Postprint (published version)