Process to chemically modify polymeric materials by static, low-pressure infiltration of reactive gaseous molecules

1. A method comprising:

loading a substrate into a vacuum chamber of a chemical vapor infiltration reaction apparatus, the vacuum chamber having a first end and a second end with a high vacuum pump located proximate said second end;

pumping the vacuum chamber to a pressure of from 8 mTorr to 12 mTorr with said vacuum pump;

dosing the substrate with a metalorganic precursor by allowing the metalorganic precursor to flow inside the chamber;

dosing the substrate material with a co-reactant to trap the metalorganic precursor within the substrate material;

creating a static precursor atmosphere inside the chamber;

allowing the substrate to rest in the static precursor atmosphere from 30 seconds to 1 day to form a chemically modified substrate; and

extracting the chemically modified substrate from the vacuum chamber.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

extracting residual precursor from the chamber; and

venting the vacuum chamber to atmospheric pressure.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises an organic, polymeric material.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the organic, polymeric material is selected from a group consisting of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PET), poly-(ethylene terephthalate) (PMMA), polycarbonate, cellulose, carboxylate-containing polymers, and combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor comprises a vapor phase metalorganic precursor.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the metalorganic precursor is selected from a group consisting of titanium tetrachloride, zirconium tetrachloride, zinc chloride, aluminum trichloride, silane, tungsten hexafluoride, molybdenum fluoride, diethyl zinc, tetraethylorthosilicate, trim ethyl aluminum, titanium isopropoxide, dimethylchloro aluminum, methyldichloro aluminum, or other metal alkyls, metal tetrakisalkylamidos, metal cyclopentadienyls, metal diketonates, and combinations thereof.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the chamber is pumped to a pressure of from 9 to 11 mTorr with the vacuum pump.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate rests in the static precursor atmosphere for about one hour.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the extracted, chemically-modified substrate is a hybrid of the precursor and the loaded substrate.

10. A method comprising:

loading a polymeric material into a vacuum chamber of a chemical vapor infiltration apparatus, the vacuum chamber having a first end and a second end with a high vacuum pump located proximate said second end;

pumping the vacuum chamber to a pressure of from 8 mTorr to 12 mTorr with said vacuum pump;

dosing the polymeric material with a metalorganic precursor by allowing the metalorganic precursor to flow inside the chamber;

dosing the polymeric material with a co-reactant to trap the metalorganic precursor within the polymeric material;

creating a static precursor atmosphere inside the chamber;

allowing the polymeric material to rest in the static precursor atmosphere from 30 seconds to 1 day to form a chemically modified polymeric material; and

extracting a chemically modified polymeric material from the chamber.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising repeatedly dosing the polymeric material with the metalorganic precursor and the co-reactant from 2 to 20 times to grow the size of the inorganic phase and increase inorganic loading.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising adding an organic species to the chamber to plasticize the polymeric material and accelerate diffusion of the precursor and/or co-reactant.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising cycling the temperature in the chamber to prevent out-diffusion of the precursor and/or co-reactant.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the extracted, chemically modified polymeric material has antimicrobial properties.