Adjusting wetting and adhesion characteristics with ALD and MLD

Atomic and molecular layer deposition (ALD and MLD, respectively) are based on repeated cycles of gas-solid surface reactions. A monolayer of precursor molecules is chemisorbed onto the surface during a single deposition cycle, enabling control of thin film growth in principle down to sub-monolayer resolution. This level of control has made ALD and MLD interesting for various applications. This presentation shows that low-temperature ALD can also be used to adjust wetting characteristics of polymer webs with non-ideal surfaces. For example, print quality can be optimized by surface modification with just few ALD cycles. We have also developed inorganic-organic hybrid materials providing, for example, improved adhesion between an inorganic oxide surface and extrusion coatings. These open up new application areas for ALD and MLD. Due to e.g. the small amount of deposited materiaL/cycles needed this could also help to alleviate the challenges related to the limited speed of roll-to-roll ALD processes.