Please select a dip coater type from the range below
Dip coating is the precision controlled immersion and withdrawal of any substrate into a reservoir of liquid for the purpose of depositing a layer of material. Many chemical and nanomaterials engineering research projects in academia and industry make use of the dip coating technique.
The dip coating technique is used for the fabrication of thin films by self-assembly and the sol-gel technique. Self-assembly can give film thicknesses of exactly one monolayer. The sol-gel technique creates films of increased, precisely controlled thickness, determined mainly by the deposition speed and solution viscosity.
Many factors contribute to determining the final state of a dip coated thin film. By controlling the functionalisation of the initial substrate surface, submersion time, withdrawal speed, number of dipping cycles, solution composition, concentration and temperature, number of solutions in each dipping sequence and environment humidity, a large variety of repeatable dip coated film structures and thicknesses can be fabricated. The technique of dip coating can give uniform, high quality films even on bulky, complex shapes.
Dip Coater models
A variety of dip coaters with a range of vertical travel lengths and dipping speeds are available from Nima to suit your specific application.
Available dipping speeds
1-60 mm/min
2-120 mm/min
4-240 mm/min
8-480 mm/min
DC motor control of the dipping arm provides smooth linear motion of the substrate at all dipping speeds. Simply select your desired dipping speed range during the ordering process. There is no price difference between models with different speed ranges. If you require a dip coater that can dip at less than 1mm/min, these can also be produced. Please contact us for further information.
The conventional Nima dip coater is available in two models: DC Small (with a 75mm stroke) and DC Large (with a 160mm stroke).
If more than one solution reservoir is desired, the DC Multi Vessel offers a programmable, rotating carousel that can house up to eight vessels of solution for cleaning, multiple solution deposition cycles and rinse sequences.
The DC Multi Sample model has a substrate holder that can hold up to 12 glass slide substrates, useful for upscaling production. An appropriately large solution vessel is provided with this model. The vertical travel length is 75mm.
If deposition at an angle other than orthogonal to the liquid surface is required, the DC Angled is available for dipping at angles of 30 and 45 degrees from vertical.
Additional options
The magnetic stirrer option is available for all Nima Dip Coaters, offering a further means of controlling the deposited film quality.
A temperature sensor is also available for monitoring the solution temperature within the Dip Coater software. This option is not compatible with the DC Multi Vessel.
Containment of the equipment within a dust and draught exclusion cabinet offers improved reproducibility of samples when ideal cleanroom environments are not available.
Various substrate holder types are available to suit your particular substrate type. All Dip Coaters are provided with a substrate holder, suitable for glass slide substrates of up to 3mm thickness. Micro-clamps are available for thinner, delicate substrate types such as cover slips and small silicon wafers.
Further information
Software-controlled deposition features include setting the upper and lower substrate resting positions, immersion speed, submersion period, withdrawal speed, drying period, number of dip cycles and solution holder rotation sequence for multiple solution depositions.
Nima have made many custom dip coaters over the years for customers with specific requirements and will happily consider any design modifications that you desire.
All Nima dip coaters come complete with computer interface unit, power supply, cables, software, user manual and solution vessels.
All Nima instruments are covered by a three year warranty. If a fault develops during this time, we will repair the instrument free of charge.
