Adhesion of pp-VTES films to glass substrates and their durability in aqueous environments

Adhesion of plasma polymer films to planar glass substrates was analysed using a microscratch tester and an optical polarizing microscope. Plasma-polymerized vinyltriethoxysilane was deposited by an RF helical coupling pulsed plasma system. Scratch data were correlated with stylus radius, loading rate, film thickness and the effective power used. Scratch tests under dry and wet conditions revealed that interfacial adhesion of plasma polymer films was 40% higher and the durability in aqueous environments perfect in comparison to polycondensed films prepared from the same monomer by a wet chemical process.