Deposition of stable amine coating onto polycaprolactone nanofibers by low pressure cyclopropylamine plasma polymerization

• Cyclopropylamine plasma polymers deposited on polycaprolactone nanofibers
• Amine-rich films with high water stability
• Aging of amine-rich films in air

Amine-rich films are of high interest for the bio-applications including drug delivery and tissue engineering thanks to their high reactivity allowing the formation of the covalent linkages between biomolecules and a surface. However, the bio-applications of amine-rich films require their good stability in water which is often achieved at large expenses of the amine concentration. Recently, non-toxic cyclopropylamine (CPA) has been applied for the plasma polymerization of films bearing high NHx environment combined with the moderate thickness loss (20%) after water immersion for 48 h. In this work, the amine-rich film with the NHx concentration over 7 at.% was deposited on Si substrates and polycaprolactone nanofiber meshes by using CPA plasma polymerization (pulsed mode) in a vertically oriented stainless steel reactor. The substrates were placed at the radio frequency electrode and the ion bombardment caused by direct-current self-bias was suppressed by using high pressure of 50 Pa. Analysis of samples by scanning electron microscopy did not reveal any cracks in the deposited layer formed during a sample immersion in water. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed a slight oxidation of amine groups in water but the film still contained 5 at.% of NHx (according to the N1s XPS fitting) after the immersion. The rapid oxidation of amine groups was observed during the aging experiment carried out in air at room temperature because FTIR revealed an increase of amide peaks that increased progressively with aging time. However, this oxidation was significantly reduced if the plasma polymer was stored at − 20 °C. Since the films exhibit high amine concentration and very good water stability they have great potential for applications as biocompatible functional coatings.