LAUSR

Plasma deposited polyoxazoline thin films share many valuable properties with polyoxazoline prepared via conventional organic chemistry; they are biocompatible, non-cytotoxic and low fouling. What is more, they bind biomolecules covalently, support cell adhesion, and are generated in a solvent free, single step process. Here, we show that the secret for plasma deposited polyoxazolines’ unique set of properties lies in both the chemical fragmentation processes occurring in the plasma phase itself and the recombination events subsequently occurring at the plasma-activated surface. In situ plasma mass spectroscopy was used to elucidate the complex composition of the oxazoline plasma phase at nominal powers ranging from 2 to 50W. This confirmed the stability of the un-opened monomer, but also revealed the formation of nitrile, isocyanate, and imine species. In correlation with post-plasma surface characterization data, the mass spectroscopy results indicate that reactive functional groups were plasma-generate...