Study of plasma polymer structures to induce composite layers

This study is designed to investigate the ability of plasma polymer films (PPHMDS), grown from the hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS) monomer on stainless steel (SS) and silica glass (SG) substrates, to induce the deposition of composite layers from a mixture of saturated simulated body fluid (SBF) and detonation nanodiamond (DND) by a biomimetic process. Results from FTIR and XPS studies showed that the structure of the PPHDMS layers depends on the nature of the substrate, as well as on the deposition conditions and the influence of the subsequent deposition of the composite layers. The PPHDMS structure appears to be covalently bonded to SG, compared to those on SS. After their immersion in the mixture of SBF and DND, the layers grown on the SG_PPHDMS structure shows the existence of phosphate and carbonate groups. On the SS_PPHMDS, it shows a predominantly carbon enrich deposit, which indicates that the lack of functional polar groups of the SS_PPHMDS surfaces, and limits the process of precipitation of the SBF ions. The results emphasize the potential for tailoring a plasma polymer structure PPHMDS, by varying the deposition conditions and substrate, in order to use them as biocompatible materials.