Preparation and multi-characterization of plasma polymerized allylamine films

Plasma polymerized allylamine (ppAA) films were deposited in a radio-frequency glow discharge plasma reactor using a continuous-wave mode and varying the discharge power from 15 to 125 W. The deposition rate reached 26 nm min^-1 and was constant within at least half an hour of process. The chemical structure and elemental composition of the deposited films were investigated by Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies, whereas surface properties were analyzed by atomic force microscopy and surface free energy measurement. A special focus is given to the stability of ppAA in aqueous media and primary amine quantification. The use of fluorescent microscopy and UV-Visible spectroscopy enabled us to detect and quantify the primary amine, respectively. All the studied parameters varied widely with enhanced power with a transition point around 50 W. Over this value, the results remain relatively unchanged.