title: Nanopressing: toward tailored polymer microstructures and nanostructures.
abstract: A simple and versatile method is developed for preparing anisotropic polymer particles by pressing polymer microspheres at elevated temperatures. Polystyrene (PS) microspheres are used to demonstrate this approach. Depending on the mechanical deformation and wetting of the polymers on the substrates, polymer structures with special shapes such as barrel-like or dumbbell-like shapes can be prepared. The morphology of polymer structures can be controlled by the experimental parameters such as the pressing pressure, the pressing temperature, and the pressing time. The wetting of the polymers on the substrates dominates when the samples are annealing at higher temperatures for longer times.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, 30050, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Huei
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Mu-Huan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: Chia-Chan
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Jiun-Tai
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D006358:Hot Temperature; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008863:Microspheres; D015394:Molecular Structure; D049329:Nanostructures; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D017155:Wettability
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers
keywords: annealing; microspheres; polystyrene; pressing; wetting