Engineers develop novel system for producing conductive films

Yale engineers have developed a novel automated system for generating strong, flexible, transparent coatings with promising uses in lithium-ion battery and fuel cell production, among other applications. Until now, the slow through-put of some existing assembly methods has significantly restricted the practical application of these thin, multilayered conductive films. Led by André Taylor, an assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering, the Yale team developed a new assembly technique that cuts process time and produces films with both nanolevel precision and improved function. The system - called spin-spray layer-by-layer (SSLbL) - generates thin, multilayered films more rapidly than previously possible and with greater control over film characteristics. The researchers describe their method in a forthcoming issue of the journal ACS Nano, available now in preprint. "There are many applications for the new technique in developing functional nanoscale coatings," says Forrest Gittleson, a Yale graduate student and member of the research team. "There are [existing] spray-only systems that reduce the assembly time for layer-by-layer films.