TY - JOUR A1 - Truica-Marasescu, F. A1 - Girard-Lauriault, P.-L. A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Wertheimer, M. R. T1 - Nitrogen-rich plasma polymers: Comparison of films deposited in atmospheric- and low-pressure plasmas N2 - Low- and atmospheric-pressure plasma co-polymerisations of binary gas mixtures of C2H4 and NH3 or N2, respectively, were investigated for depositing N-rich plasma polymer coatings for biomedical applications. Deposition kinetics and relevant surface characteristics of resulting plasma polymerised ethylene enriched with nitrogen, “PPE:N”, coatings were investigated as a function of the gas mixture ratio, X = NH3(N2)/C2H4. Physico-chemical properties of the coatings were determined using a combination of complementary surface-sensitive techniques: for example, total nitrogen concentrations, [N], up to 40 at.% were measured by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, XPS, while those of primary amines, [–NH2], were determined by performing chemical derivatisation followed by XPS analyses. PPE:N films were further characterised by UV–VIS Ellipsometry, Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy, IR Spectroscopy and by Contact Angle Goniometry measurements. The stability of the coatings was tested, both in terms of water solubility and of “ageing” in ambient atmosphere. For the latter, selected samples were stored in the laboratory for different durations, in order to assess possible changes in their chemical structures. KW - Aging KW - Deposition process KW - Ethylene KW - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) KW - Glow discharge KW - Plasma polymers KW - Surface chemistry KW - Surface energy PY - 2008 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2008.02.033 SN - 0040-6090 VL - 516 IS - 21 SP - 7406 EP - 7417 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-18279 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -