Abstract
For the creation of thin films, the use of precursors in liquid phase offers a viable alternative when these chemicals are sensitive to high temperatures and phase changes. However, it requires appropriate liquid handling and deposition technologies capable of dispensing the fluid homogeneously to produce a uniform thin film. We report different tailor-made mist chamber designs integrated in an atmospheric-pressure plasma polymerization process for the synthesis of functional thin polymer films from liquid precursors. A systematic investigation, evaluated by performance indicators, is presented on the characteristics and suitability of metallic 3D-printed mist chambers depending on inner volume, geometry and surface post-treatment, for the deposition of a thin liquid monomer film. To assess the quality of the subsequently obtained plasma-polymerized (pp) films, their properties were characterized in terms of thickness, chemical composition, surface morphology and stability in aqueous environment. It was found that the specification of the mist chambers along with the plasma process parameters influences the pp film’s thickness, surface morphology and degree of monomer conversion. This study is one of the first demonstrations of a controllable process able to tune the cross-linked polymeric chains of plasma-polymers at atmospheric pressure, highlighting the opportunities of using mist chambers and plasma technology to discover tailored organic thin films to materials sciences and life sciences.
Highlights
Thin plasma-polymerized films are used to improve the chemical and/or mechanical surface properties without changing the bulk of the material [1,2]
We present and demonstrate a novel mist chamber design, integrated in a plasma grafting and plasma polymerization process, for the synthesis of functional thin polymer films
The synthesized exemplary oxygen-rich, functional polymer films are of particular interest for engineering surfaces applied in biosciences, as a platform for fundamental studies at the cellular level, and in general for thin film research
Summary
Thin plasma-polymerized (pp) films are used to improve the chemical and/or mechanical surface properties without changing the bulk of the material [1,2]. Spray deposition permits an easy deposition of almost insoluble and non-evaporative liquids on any substrate material It allows for combining processing technologies like plasma polymerization, making it a promising approach for an environmentally friendly coating technology, as the process optimization may admit the use of suitable precursor monomers. Different mist chamber designs were evaluated using the performance indicators mist-out time (analogous to washout time for ICP-S) and mass of misted monomer, along with the plasma polymerization process and the resulting properties of the pp film For the latter, physical and chemical characterization was performed for the as-deposited pp films, as well as after 24 h of immersion in water to evaluate their stability. The synthesized exemplary oxygen-rich, functional polymer films are of particular interest for engineering surfaces applied in biosciences, as a platform for fundamental studies at the cellular level, and in general for thin film research
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