Nitrogen‐Rich Plasma‐Polymer Films for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Low‐pressure plasma co‐polymerisation of binary gas mixtures of ethylene and ammonia was investigated in order to deposit N‐rich plasma polymer coatings for biomedical applications. Deposition kinetics and relevant surface characteristics were investigated as a function of r.f. power, gas pressure, and NH3/C2H4 ratio. Physico‐chemical properties of the coatings were determined by surface‐sensitive techniques: for example, total nitrogen concentrations up to 40 at.‐% were measured by XPS, while those of primary amines were determined by chemical derivatisation followed by XPS analysis. L‐PPE:N films were further characterised by UV‐vis and IR spectroscopic ellipsometry and by CAG.

Macroscopic control of plasma polymerization processes

“…Hence, the regime of plasma polymerization (radical-dominated, etching, influence of oligomers or ions) can easily be identified. Recently, more and more groups adapt this approach [15] and start to make use of the Arrhenius-type plot to optimize their plasma polymerization processes [16].…”

Plasma functionalization of textiles: Specifics and possibilities

“…For high NH 3 /C 2 H 4 gas ratio, the films contain a high nitrogen concentration and show very hydrophilic properties [15]. Generally, films deposited from NH 3 /C 2 H 4 mixtures were also shown to contain a good fraction of amino groups [16,17]. This is interesting, since amino groups have chemical properties that can be useful for various applications.…”

Non-thermal plasma assisted lithography for biomedical applications: an overview

“…Surfaces protruding (primary) amines are well-sought after, as they efficiently bind with peptides (RGD) and proteins (lamilin, fibronectin, vitronectin…), thus greatly stimulating the cell-surface interactions [6, 42,72,73]. This good selectivity towards macromolecules makes them ideal for surface patterning.…”