I would like to prepare a thin film from of PDMS liquid.
My current attempts with solvent casting, then let it dry for 24 hr at room temp. after I tried to recuperate and it doesn't work.
Any suggestion how I can obtain a thin film from PDMS liquid?
Dear Nabil Chakhchaoui , the video Ahmed Shawky recommended explains clearly how to prepare the most common kind of PDMS used in a lab, Sylgard 184, which consists on a prepolymer and an activator. After mixing them in a ratio 10:1, you can place the mixture in a disiccator under vacuum to remove any bubble. To obtain a thin film of solid (crosslinked) PDMS, you can cast it on a glass surface (properly cleaned to avoid bubbles) and leave it at room temp for 12 or 24h, or when it becomes not tacky, but the best thing to accelerate the crosslinking process would be placing it on a lab stove at 80ºC for 2h, it is the way I do it.
The higher the temp, the shorter the time to get your film solid, and viceversa.
Casting can give you a relatively low control of film thickness, and if your application requires a specific thicknees you could sandwiching the PDMS between two glass slides and keeping the separation between them with spacers of the righ thicknees.
If you want a really thin film, probably you could try spin-coating the PDMS. It is quite viscous and you would need high speed to get a uniform film.
Hope it helps!
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