Structure Retention and Water Stability of Microwave Plasma Polymerized Films From Allylamine and Acrylic Acid

Low-pressure downstream microwave plasma was used to deposit thin water resistant PPAAm and PPAAc films on titanium substrates. Film stability against dissolution was tested under sonication in ultrapure water. Variation of duty cycle on mean power was applied to evaluate the sensitivity of film properties on plasma conditions. Strong cross-linked and therewith water resistant PPAAm and PPAAc films correlate with a relatively low but for biomedical applications sufficient density of functional groups. Furthermore, some similarity exists between process parameter and dissolution stability of deposited plasma polymer films prepared by microwave and reported for radio frequency plasmas.