Composite thin films of poly(phenylene oxide)/poly(styrene) and PPO/silver via vapor phase deposition

We report fabrication of thin (100～300 nm) poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) films and their composites with poly (styrene) (PS) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles using a one‐step electron beam‐assisted vapor phase co‐deposition technique. Surface morphology and the structure of the deposited polymer thin film composites were characterized by FTIR, Raman, X‐ray spectroscopy, and contact angle measurements. As‐deposited PPO films and PPO/Ag composites were of porous nature and contrary to solvent casting techniques were free from nodular growth. In the case of PPO/PS thin film polymer composites, however, film morphology displayed nodular growth of PPO with nodule diameters of about ～200 nm and height of approximately 50 nm. Unique morphological changes on the porous PPO thin film surface were noticed at different Ag filling ratios. Further, the capacitance of PPO/Ag composites (<16 wt%) were measured under radio‐frequency conditions and they were functional up to 100 MHz with an average capacitance density of about 2 nF/cm². The fabricated PPO‐based composite systems are discussed for their potential applications including embedded capacitor technology. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.