Gabriel Hernandez
Graz University of Technology,
Graz (Austria)
ghernadezrodriguez@tugraz.at
Project title:
Development of icephobic coatings of thin organic polymers using initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD).
Supervisor:
Anna Maria Coclite
Starting date: 01/09/2021
Research updates:
May, 2023: In the Interfreezing school, in Corsica, France, Gabriel presented their results in the poster format.
Feb, 2023: In the Field of Expertise, Advance Materials Science 2023 meeting, Gabriel presented the work “Icephobic gradient polymer coatings deposited via iCVD – An approach for ice mitigation”, see his poster here.
May, 2022: Gabriel gave an oral presentation titled “Deposition and evaluation of gradient polymers via initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) for anti-icing applications” in the E-MRS Spring meeting
About him
| “In 2009, I enrolled to the Faculty of Chemical Engineering at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, in Mexico. During my studies, I worked as a research assistant in the Polymeric Materials and Membranes Laboratory, where I also completed my bachelor thesis. In 2015, I moved to Germany after getting accepted into the Master’s program “Advanced Materials and Processes” at Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen. I joined the Institute of Polymer Materials as a research assistant where I studied carbon fibers orientation in composites. In 2017, I decided to change from Master’s program to “Materials Science and Engineering” at the Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel. Due to my previous studies and experience, I had the opportunity to join the group of multicomponent materials as a research assistant, where I was introduced to the initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) technique, with which I worked until the end of my studies. Fascinated by the novelty and potential of iCVD, in my master thesis I studied the incorporation of a solid photoresponsive monomers to the iCVD processs and the photoresponsive properties of the deposted films. In 2021, I was selected as a PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Anna Maria Coclite for the SURFICE project. Contributing from the Technical University in Graz, my project aims to generate a new type of icephobic coatings based on polymer thin films deposited by initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition” |
Goals in the project:
The project will attempt to generate a new type of icephobic coatings based on polymer thin films deposited by initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD). This method does not require a solvent which thus allows to easily obtain copolymers from monomers that have different solubilities, opening the door to versatile chemistries. A novel approach will be developed by using two chemistries (e.g. perfluorodecylacrylate and acrylamide, or alternative REACh compliant chemicals) and combining them in patterns or multilayer structures to reach a large range of wettability from low to high