A MULTITECHNIQUE STUDY OF THE SPONTANEOUS OXIDATION OF N-HEXANE PLASMA POLYMERS

Long-term compositional changes were observed when n-hexane plasma polymers were stored in air at ambient temperature. These post-deposition changes were monitored over periods exceeding one year using XPS, grazing angle FTIR, and SEM. A rapid initial increase in the oxygen content was followed by a slower oxygen uptake, which continued for many months. In contrast to the reported autocatalytic acceleration of the oxidation of polyolefins, the rate of oxidation of n-hexane plasma polymers was found to decrease continuously, and it did not proceed to the same extent toward higher oxidation states. The plasma polymer coatings did not show physical manifestations of oxidative degradation such as cracking, reduction in thickness, or loss of physical integrity. Comparison of the XPS and FTIR data suggested that the top few nanometers of the plasma polymer coatings oxidized at a faster rate than the ''bulk.'' The experimental data were interpreted using a model comprising reactions known from the oxidative degradation of polyolefins: carbon-centered radicals, trapped in the course of the plasma deposition, combine with atmospheric oxygen to form metastable peroxy radicals and hydroperoxides, which decompose to generate a variety of stable product groups such as hydroxyl, carbonyl, and carboxylic groups. There was broad agreement between the XPS data and the time dependence of particular species in model calculations. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.