Surface Analysis of Plasma‐Deposited Polymer Films, 6

Summary:XPS and NEXAFS spectroscopy results were used for chemical characterization of pulsed plasma deposited allyl alcohol films before and after exposure to ambient air. The influence of the composite plasma parameter, effective plasma power (P) to monomer flow rate (F) ratio on the spectroscopic results was investigated. From this data, information about the chemical character of the plasma polymerized films, such as retention of the hydroxyl groups in the deposited sample, the amount of long living radicals and branching and/or crosslinking was derived. A high degree of hydroxyl retention was observed, which, however, decreased along with the oxygen content of the film, as the P/F ratio increased. A trend in the extent of the oxygen loss according to the variation of the P/F ratio was deduced, which agrees with earlier ToF‐SSIMS findings (Plasma Process. Polym.2005,2, 563). XPS spectra of plasma deposited allyl alcohol in situ and after exposure to ambient air (reference sample: poly(vinyl alcohol)). magnified image XPS spectra of plasma deposited allyl alcohol in situ and after exposure to ambient air (reference sample: poly(vinyl alcohol)).