Eastern Mediterranean Chemical Engineering Conference 9, Ankara, Türkiye, 30 Ağustos - 01 Eylül 2018, ss.1
Microparticles with complex structures can
be used for various areas such as drug delivery1, emulsion
stabilization2, sensor applications, catalysis3 and
separation processes4. We report a new synthesis procedure which
involve the use of photolithography combined with liquid crystal templates.
Specifically, mixtures of the reactive mesogen (RM257) and nonreactive liquid
crystal (E7) were polymerized using a UV light that was filtered with a
lithograpy mask. We used circular, triangular, rectangular, square shape, star
shape and heart shape lithography masks to cover the shape library for the
synthesis of further macro-systems. The LC-monomer mixture was kept inside a
sandwich cell that allow manipulation of the alignment of the LCs within. After
polymerization, unreacted mesogens were extracted from polymeric microparticles
and allowed to shrink and maintain the final form of the microparticles. We
showed that polymeric microparticles can be produced in 2D or 3D structures and
different sizes that range from 20 µm to 200 µm in length and 1.5 µm to 160 µm
in thickness. We showed that the
particles of circular, elliptical, triangular, square, rectangular, star and
heart shapes in 2D, and chiral particles in 3D can be synthesized.
Microparticles with complex structures can
be used for various areas such as drug delivery1, emulsion
stabilization2, sensor applications, catalysis3 and
separation processes4. We report a new synthesis procedure which
involve the use of photolithography combined with liquid crystal templates.
Specifically, mixtures of the reactive mesogen (RM257) and nonreactive liquid
crystal (E7) were polymerized using a UV light that was filtered with a
lithograpy mask. We used circular, triangular, rectangular, square shape, star
shape and heart shape lithography masks to cover the shape library for the
synthesis of further macro-systems. The LC-monomer mixture was kept inside a
sandwich cell that allow manipulation of the alignment of the LCs within. After
polymerization, unreacted mesogens were extracted from polymeric microparticles
and allowed to shrink and maintain the final form of the microparticles. We
showed that polymeric microparticles can be produced in 2D or 3D structures and
different sizes that range from 20 µm to 200 µm in length and 1.5 µm to 160 µm
in thickness. We showed that the
particles of circular, elliptical, triangular, square, rectangular, star and
heart shapes in 2D, and chiral particles in 3D can be synthesized.