# US 2021/0380412 A1 · Direct conversion of teflon tape into diamond, q-carbon, and graphene films > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0380412 A1 - Document ID: US20210380412A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/335,164 - Filed: 2021-06-01 - Published: 2021-12-09 - Earliest claimed: 2020-06-09 - Assignees: North Carolina State University - Applicants: North Carolina State University - Inventors: Jagdish Narayan - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210380412A1 ## CPC - C01B 32/05: Preparation or purification of carbon not covered by groups C01B32/15, C01B32/20, C01B32/25, C01B32/30 - A61F 2/3094: {Designing or manufacturing processes} - B29C 64/106: using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material - B29C 64/188: involving additional operations performed on the added layers, e.g. smoothing, grinding or thickness control (surface shaping B29C59/00; after-treatment of articles without altering their shape B29C71/00) - B29C 64/194: during lay-up - B29C 64/273: pulsed; frequency modulated - B29C 71/02: Thermal after-treatment {(B29C71/0063 and B29C71/0072 take precedence)} - B29C 71/04: by wave energy or particle radiation {, e.g. for curing or vulcanising preformed articles (during moulding, e.g. in a mould B29C35/08)} - B33Y 10/00: Processes of additive manufacturing - B33Y 40/20: Post-treatment, e.g. curing, coating or polishing - B33Y 70/00: Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing - C01B 32/182: Graphene - C01B 32/184: Preparation - C01B 32/26: Preparation (by using ultra-high pressure B01J3/06; by crystal growth C30B29/04) - A61F 2/30: Joints - A61F 2002/3097: {using laser} - A61F 2002/30971: {Laminates, i.e. layered products} - A61F 2002/30985: {using three dimensional printing [3DP]} - A61F 2310/0058: Coating made of diamond or of diamond-like carbon DLC - A61F 2310/00586: Coating made of graphite - B29C 2035/0838: {using laser} - B29C 2071/025: {Quenching, i.e. rapid cooling of an object} - B29K 2027/18: PTFE, i.e. polytetrafluoroethylene {, e.g. ePTFE, i.e. expanded polytetrafluoroethylene} - C01B: NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; {METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C} - A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C) - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) - B33Y: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING - B29K: INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR {MOULDS, } REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS ## Abstract In various exemplary embodiments, the present disclosure provides a process for the conversion of certain polymers into diamond and diamond-like materials using laser pulse annealing. The process includes transforming the polymer to carbon, melting the carbon and quenching the carbon melt into to form Q-carbon, diamond, and/or graphene. The process can be applied to a polymer film such aa a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tape. An object can be coated with the polymer film which can then be converted to Q-carbon, diamond, and/or graphene using laser pulse annealing. A process is also provided for making a three-dimensional object using a combination of, for example, 3D printing the polymer and converting each layer of polymer into Q-carbon, diamond and/or graphene. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A process comprising: a) increasing absorbance of an unconverted section of a thin polymer film by at least one conditioning laser pulse to produce a lasered section; b) melting the lasered section at a temperature of about 4000K by a conversion laser pulse; and c) quenching the melted lasered section to form an initial quenched section comprising Q-carbon, diamond, and/or graphene, wherein steps a) through c) occur in an environment at ambient temperature and pressure, and wherein the polymer film comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polystyrene (PS), and/or polypropylene (PP). ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The process of claim 1, wherein the polymer consists of PTFE. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The process of claim 1, wherein the wavelength of the conditioning laser pulse and/or conversion laser pulse ranges from 193 nm to 308 nm, and wherein the duration of the conditioning laser pulse and/or conversion laser pulse ranges from 20 ns to 60 ns. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The process of claim 1, wherein the initial quenched section comprises a composite of Q-carbon and diamond. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The process of claim 1, wherein the thin polymer film is part of a polytetrafluorethylene tape. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The process of claim 1, wherein the thin polymer film is proximate to a substrate, wherein the substrate is selected from the group consisting of metals, semiconductors, ceramics, and glass. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The process of claim 6, wherein the thin polymer film and the substrate are in the form of a tape. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The process of claim 6, wherein the substrate is an object, and the thin polymer film is a coating encompassing the object. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The process of claim 1, further comprising: d) adjusting the thin polymer film and the at least one quenched section and/or the laser positioning mechanism such that the conditioning laser pulse strikes a subsequent unconverted section of the thin polymer film; e) increasing the absorbance of the subsequent unconverted section of the thin polymer film by the at least one conditioning laser pulse to produce a subsequent lasered section; f) melting the subsequent lasered section at a temperature of about 4000K by the conversion laser pulse; g) quenching the melted subsequent lasered section to form a subsequent quenched section comprising Q-carbon, diamond, and/or graphene; and h) repeating steps d) through g) until a final desired portion of the thin polymer film is converted to a finished quenched section, wherein the finished quench section comprises the initial quenched section and each of the subsequent quenched sections. wherein steps e) through g) occur in an environment at ambient temperature and pressure. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The process of claim 9, wherein the finished quenched section is contiguous, and wherein the final desired portion of the thin polymer film converted to the finished quenched section ranges from 10% to 100%. ### Claim 11 A process for coating an object comprising: a) applying a thin polymer film to at least a portion of the object; b) increasing the absorbance of an unconverted section of the thin polymer film by at least one conditioning laser pulse to produce a lasered section; c) melting the lasered section at a temperature of about 4000K by a conversion laser pulse; d) quenching the melted lasered section to form an initial quenched section comprising Q-carbon, diamond, and/or graphene; e) adjusting the object with the applied thin polymer film and the at least one quenched section and/or the laser positioning mechanism such that the conditioning laser pulse strikes a subsequent unconverted section of the thin polymer film; f) increasing the absorbance of the subsequent unconverted section of the thin polymer film by the at least one conditioning laser pulse to produce a subsequent lasered section; g) melting the subsequent lasered section at a temperature of about 4000K by the conversion laser pulse; h) quenching the melted subsequent lasered section to create a subsequent quenched section comprising Q-carbon, diamond, and/or graphene; and i) repeating steps e) through h) until a final desired portion of the thin polymer film is converted to the finished quenched section, wherein the finished quenched section comprises the initial quenched section and each of the subsequent quenched sections, wherein steps b) through d) and steps f) through h) occur in an environment at ambient temperature and pressure, and wherein the polymer film comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polystyrene (PS), and/or polypropylene (PP). ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The process of claim 11, wherein the applying step a) includes 3D printing the thin polymer film on the object. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The process of claim 11, wherein the wavelength of the conditioning laser pulse and/or conversion laser pulse ranges from 193 nm to 308 nm, and wherein the duration of the conditioning laser pulse and/or conversion laser pulse ranges from 20 ns to 60 ns. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The process of claim 11, wherein the object is selected from the group consisting of blades and drill bits. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The process of claim 11, wherein the object is selected from the group consisting of an artificial hip, knee, ankle, wrist, shoulder, and elbow. ### Claim 16 A process for making a three-dimensional object comprising: a) applying a first layer of a thin polymer film on a substrate; b) increasing the absorbance of an unconverted section of the thin polymer film by at least one conditioning laser pulse to produce a lasered section; c) melting the lasered section at a temperature of about 4000K by a conversion laser pulse; d) quenching the melted lasered section to form an initial quenched section comprising Q-carbon, diamond, and/or graphene; e) adjusting the thin polymer film and the at least one quenched section and/or the laser positioning mechanism such that the conditioning laser pulse strikes a subsequent unconverted section of the thin polymer film; f) increasing the absorbance of the subsequent unconverted section of the thin polymer film by the at least one conditioning laser pulse to produce a subsequent lasered section; g) melting the subsequent lasered section at a temperature of about 4000K by the at least one conversion laser pulse; h) quenching the melted subsequent lasered section to form a subsequent quenched section comprising Q-carbon, diamond, and/or graphene; i) repeating steps e) through h) until a final desired portion of the thin polymer film is converted to a finished quenched section, wherein the finished quenched section comprises the initial quenched section and each of the subsequent quenched sections; j) applying a subsequent layer of the thin polymer film in a predetermined pattern to form the three-dimensional object and repeating steps b) through i); and k) repeating step j) until the three-dimensional object is completed, wherein steps b) through d) and steps f) through h) occur in an environment at ambient temperature and pressure, and wherein the polymer film comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polystyrene (PS), and/or polypropylene (PP). ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The process of claim 16, wherein the applying of step a) and/or the applying of step j) includes 3D printing the thin polymer film. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The process of claim 16, wherein the wavelength of the conditioning laser pulse and/or conversion laser pulse ranges from 193 nm to 308 nm, and wherein the duration of the conditioning laser pulse and/or conversion laser pulse ranges from 20 ns to 60 ns. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The process of claim 16, wherein at least one of the finished quenched sections is contiguous. ### Claim 20 The process of 16, wherein the three-dimensional object is selected from the group consisting of an artificial human body part, a cutting tool and a jewelry piece.