Synthesis of polyaniline-type thin layer structures under low-pressure RF-plasma conditions

Macromolecular thin layers were deposited under continuous and modulated aniline-RF-plasma conditions, and by Ar-, NH3, and I2-plasmas-enhanced crosslinking of pre-deposited N-phenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine (PPD) films on optically smooth quartz substrates. Survey and high-resolution ESCA, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV–VIS analyses were used for the investigation of the chemical structure of the deposited films. The thermal behavior of deposited (undoped and doped) plasma-treated PPD films was characterized by TG/DTA and DSC analysis and their electrical conductivities were evaluated by using a commercial four-probe system. It was found that gas phase aniline-plasma environments induce intense molecular fragmentation processes, which result in the formation of structures that are significantly different in comparison to that of conjugated polyaniline. The plasma-mediated crosslinking approach allows the synthesis of macromolecular layers, which retain most of the structure of the starting component, and their doped versions exhibit electrical conductivities comparable to the electrical conductivities of doped conventional polyaniline.