Kumar, Avishek, Grant, Daniel S., Bazaka, Kateryna, and Jacob, Mohan V. (2018) Tailoring terpenoid plasma polymer properties by controlling the substrate temperature during PECVD. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 135 (5). 45771.

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Abstract

Polymers derived from natural, minimally-processed materials have recently emerged as a more sustainable alternative to synthetic polymers, with promising applications in biocompatible and biodegradable devices. Plasma-enhanced deposition is well-suited to one-step, fast, and efficient synthesis of highly crosslinked inert polymers directly from natural resources, however, fabrication of biologically active polymers remains a challenge. Plasma processing parameters influence the properties such as surface energy, roughness, morphology, and chemical composition of deposited polymers and thus their final applications. This article reports on the important role of substrate temperature (T-S) in the chemical composition, wettability, refractive index, and crosslinking density of plasma polymers derived from terpenoids. Experiments are conducted as a function of deposition power P-d, and substrate temperature, T-S. T-S varied from 40 to 280 degrees C and is externally controlled. Atomic force microscopy analysis reveals the change in deposition mechanism attributed to shadowing effect at higher T-S and P-d. Increase in band gap (E-g) with high T-S deposition for terpenoid based plasma polymers is observed. Swelling behavior analyzed by in situ ellipsometry affirms the enhanced crosslink density with increasing deposition rate. Fourier transform infrared analysis exhibits the formation of additional chemical moieties with increasing T-S. Increase in deposition rate with increasing T-S at higher P-d supports the theory of direct incorporation of depositing particles as dominant mechanism of plasma polymerization in this study.

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