Surface initiated growth of poly(ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate) nanofibers on surface-modified glass substrates

Nanofibers of poly(ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate) were directly grown via a template-less vapor phase polymerization technique directly on surface modified glass substrates. Several commercially available glass slides were investigated for polymer nanofiber deposition. In addition, glass substrates were also modified in the laboratory using silanes with different functional groups. The growth of nanofibers at different relative humidities was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that nanofiber formation is favored when the polymerization occurs at relative humidities greater than 68%. The diameter and the number density of the nanofibers were examined in terms of the wettability of cyanoacrylate monomer on the modified glass substrates.