Production and preliminary characterization of DC plasma polymerized allylamine film (PPAA) by NRA, ERD and XPS

Due to its surface properties, especially the presence of amine groups, plasma polymerized allylamine (PPAA) is involved in a large range of applications. Most of them are related to biology and biochemistry. In this work, we demonstrate a quick and simple way to produce PPAA thin films by conventional DC magnetron sputtering. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first method not involving radiofrequency (RF) or microwave discharges. In this paper, we show preliminary characterizations on the produced films (bulk analysis) carried out by ion beam techniques. The Hydrogen content in the whole layers was measured by ERD. The surface composition was probed by XPS on pentafluorobenzaldehyde (PFBA) derivatized films: the maximum concentration of amine groups is 1.6%.