BIOPLASMAS & PLASMAS WITH LIQUIDS - Joint Conference of COST ACTIONS TD1208 “Electrical discharges with liquids for future
applications” & MP1101 Biomedical Applications of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Technology, Bertinoro, Italy, 13th-17th September 2015
Deposition of amino-rich plasma polymer thin film by atmospheric
pressure plasma jet
Artem Shelemin1, Hynek Biederman1, Charlie. P. Stallard2, Kevin Mc
Donnell2 and Denis P. Dowling2
1
Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Department of
Macromolecular Physics, V Holesovickach 2, 18000, Prague, Czech Republic
2
School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield,
Dublin 4, Ireland.
Due to the particular chemical properties of N-rich surfaces, they are successfully applied
both for cell adhesion [1] and covalent coupling of proteins in aqueous environments [2].
Effectiveness of such coatings in biochemistry strongly depends on the concentration of the amino
groups on surface, which in turn can be varied according to the used experimental methods for the
deposition of films. The most often used technics are based on the low pressure plasma [3,4].
However, the atmospheric pressure deposition is also becoming very popular [5,6]. The main aim of
my work is to evaluate the use of an atmospheric plasma jet source for the deposition of amino-rich
plasma polymer for biomedical application.
As a deposition system the special designed plasma jet manufactured by Dow Corning®
under the tradename SE-2100 PlasmaStream™ was used. In this jet the precursor was introduced
into the discharge by pneumatic nebulizers in the form of aerosolized droplets. The amino-rich
coatings were deposited by means of plasma polymerisation of the nitrogen-containing compounds
(e.g. Diaminocyclohexane (DACH). The thin films were deposited in an atmosphere of the inert gas
(pure He) and in the nitrogen containing gas mixture. The concentration of the amino functionality in
the prepared coatings has been estimated using XPS by means of the derivatization technique and
FTIR at CU. In addition the change of the chemistry of the films with deposition conditions was
monitored using surface energy measurement. The interaction of proteins such BSA with the coatings
monitored using spectroscopic ellipsometry, the aim being to determine how adherent protein
thickness was influenced by the surface chemistry of the amino rich polymer layer. Since the protein
adhesion is influenced by not only the surface chemistry and also by coating morphology the latter
was examined using optical profilometry, AFM and SEM. Comparison of amino rich plasma polymer
deposited at atmospheric pressure with films prepared at low pressure by RF sputtering of nylon in Ar
or Ar+N2 has been done.
Literature
[1] Girard-Lauriault PL, Mwale F, Iordanova M, Demers C, Desjardins P, Wertheimer MR. Plasma
Process Polym 2, (2005) 263–70.
[2] A.A. Meyer-Plath, K. Schr. oder, B. Finke, A. Ohl., Vacuum 71 (2003) 391–406.
[3] Biederman H, Boyaci IH, Bilkova P, Slavinska D, Mutlu S, Zemek J, et al. J Appl Polym Sci 81
(2001), 1341–52.
[4] Finke B, Luethen F, Schroeder K, Mueller PD, Bergemann C, Frant M, et al., Biomaterials 28,
(2007) 4521–34.
[5] Akdoan E, Çökeliler D, Marcinauskas L, Valatkevicius P, Valincius V, Mutlu M., Surf Coatings
Technol 201 (2006), 2540–6.
[6] Chen G, Chen S, Chen W, Yang S.. Surf Coatings Technol 202 (2008), 4741–5.
Acknowledgements: This work was performed under the COST Action MP1101 and was supported by
the grant LD 12066 from the program COST CZ financed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and
Sports of the Czech Republic.
BIOPLASMAS & PLASMAS WITH LIQUIDS - Joint Conference of COST ACTIONS TD1208 “Electrical discharges with liquids for future
applications” & MP1101 Biomedical Applications of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Technology, Bertinoro, Italy, 13th-17th September 2015