Organic polymer coatings, protection

In a non-hermetic package, the primary moisture barrier is typically a thin, (<0.1 micron) inorganic passivation layer of silicon dioxide or silicon nitride. However, passivation layers cannot withstand physical handling and they are not resistant to saline exposure. Additional protection is needed in the form of organic polymer coatings. 

For this reason, encapsulation is used to isolate devices from their external surroundings. Encapsulants comprise a variety of materials viz., metals, inorganic glasses, and conformal organic polymer coatings. Each has the same function, to act as a protective molecular barrier. 

Hence whilst in the past corrosion control has involved, in the main, the use of metal alloys, protective coatings, inhibitors, etc. corrosion problems may now often be circumvented by the use of self-supporting organic polymers in the form of either rubbers or plastics. It must however be immediately stressed that such materials are not invariably inert to chemicals and they display their own particular response to such materials. A consideration of such behaviour will be a prior object of this section. 

In thick samples, a boron oxide/boron carbide crust has been detected on the surface of the polymer. This inorganic surface layer has a shielding effect on the inner polymer layers, further enhancing the thermal stability of the material. Poly(m-carborane-siloxane)s have therefore been considered as surface coatings for organic materials, providing protection from erosion effects. 

Hybrid polymer silica nanocomposites formed from various combinations of silicon alkoxides and polymers to create a nanoscale admixture of silica and organic polymers constitute a class of composite materials with combined properties of polymers and ceramics. They are finding increasing applications in protective coatings (Figure 7.1), optical devices, photonics, sensors and catalysis.1... 

Almost all aluminum structures are painted with organic polymers for corrosion protection. The purpose of incorporating an inhibitor interface (chromate conversion coating) between the substrate and tlie paint film is to ensure protection vAien paints fail to perform( ). It has been generally acc ted that no matter what Icind of paint system, and how well it is applied, it always will have some porosity defects and will degrade with tine during service. 

SPME uses a polymer-coated fused-silica fiber, typically 1 cm 100 m, that is fastened into the end of a fine stainless steel tube contained in a syringelike device and protected by an outer stainless steel needle. In use, the plunger of the device is depressed to expose the fiber to the sample matrix so that the organic compounds to be sorbed onto the fiber. The plunger is retracted at the end of the sampling time, and then it is depressed again to expose the fiber to a desorption interface for analysis typically by GC or LC. In a recent variation of this technique, the so-called in-tube SPME, the polymer is not coated on a fiber but on the inside of a fused-silica capillary before analysis by LC. 

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) — is a procedure originally developed for sample preconcentration in gas chromatography (GC). In this procedure a small-diameter fused silica optical fiber, coated with a liquid polymer phase such as poly(dimethylsiloxane), is immersed in an aqueous sample solution. The -> analytes partition into the polymer phase and are then thermally desorbed in the GC injector on the column. The same polymer coating is used as a stationary phase of capillary GC columns. The extraction is a non-exhaustive liquid-liquid extraction with the convenience that the organic phase is attached to the fiber. This fiber is contained in a syringe, which protects it and simplifies introduction of the fiber into a GC injector. Both uncoated and coated fibers with films of different GC stationary phases can be used. SPME can be successfully applied to the analysis of volatile chlorinated organic compounds, such as chlorinated organic solvents and substituted benzenes as well as nonvolatile chlorinated biphenyls. 

Coating organic polymer films with lecithin can improve the release properties of the film from the crimp jaws of the automated packaging machine (441). In analytical equipment, lecithin is used to improve the wettability of the contact surface, which enables the solvent to be presented uniformly for analysis (442). Incorporation of lecithin in a masking application can reduce bubble formation and improve the uniformity of the apphcation (443). And finally, lecithin can be used as a protective coating for a painted surface such as found on automobiles. Once applied, it facilitates the removal of insects and debris. The coating is resistant to rain and washing away (444). 

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