One-dimensional polymer nanofiber arrays with high aspect ratio obtained by thermal nanoimprint method

Polymer surface modification that mimicks natural behaviors has been a subject of great interest. Fabrication of polymer nanofiber arrays with various applications has been studied intensively. Avoidance of chemical solvents, reduction of processing time, improvement of the nanofiber size distribution and aspect ratios, and improvement of reproducibility have been sought for industrial value creation. This study examines an alternative fabrication methods for polymer nanofiber arrays using a combination of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanoporous template and thermal nanoimprinting lithography for simple, precise processing. Based on those results, nanofiber arrays were fabricated with 40-µm-thick film and 50–100 nm fiber diameter polystyrene (PS) and polypropylene (PP). For this study, 50-nm diameter PS nanofibers with 50 µm maximum length and a maximum aspect ratio of 1,000 were produced in addition to PP nanofibers having 130 µm maximum length and an aspect ratio of 2,600. The nanofiber lengths were affected considerably by molten polymer flow related to imprint processing conditions, polymer properties, AAO properties, and surface wettability between AAO and molten polymers. Moreover, AAO nanoconfinement demonstrated molecular orientation alignment of polymers that affect thermal properties, crystallinity, and mechanical properties of the obtained polymer nanofiber arrays. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 57:214–223, 2017.