Plasma polymers and related materials (COST 527)

The Action studied the plasma polymerisation process in relation to the desired physical and chemical properties of resulting plasma polymers with special regard to the understanding and suppression of ageing processes of plasma polymers at ambient and extreme conditions. The Action studied in detail the plasma deposits identifying the active spieces on thin films produced by that method. The mechanical, optical and electrical properties of polymer layers obtained by plasma deposition have been characterised. Fundamental investigations considering the growth of ultra-thin oxide films and the deposition of ultra-thin gradient plasma polymers on zinc substrates have been performed. These films led to excellent adhesion of organic coatings to the underlying metal substrate. Further research was focused on very high deposition rates (over 1 micron/min) and uniform plasmas polymer deposition as regard the thickness and property on 3-D substrate. Also application of glow discharge to modify the quartz crystal sensor surfaces intended for antibody immobilization and preparation of infection-free biomaterials by plasma polymerization technique was investigated. This led to the development of immunosensors (glass surfaces modified by plasma polymerization) for determination of aflatoxins B1). It was found, that plasma polymerization technique is useful in preparation of infection-free biomaterials. It lowers for instance the attachment tendency of the Staphylococcus epidermidis onto cerebrospinal fluid shunts.

It should be stressed that the Action applied the environmental friendly technologies with extremely low waste (especially solid plasma polymer and gases) that may replace presently used wet-chemistry-rich-waste-technologies. It is to note here that the waste from plasma polymer process is several orders of magnitude lower than the waste from the conventional chemistry based process used for the same function product.

The Action designed and constructed the Typical Modular Reactor in order to compare results between individual labs in the early stages of new plasma polymerization processes.

Coordinator: Charles University, Czech Republic