CHARACTERIZATION OF PLASMA POLYMERIZED HYDROCARBONS USING CP-MAS C-13-NMR

Plasma polymerized hydrocarbons made from ethane and methane were produced under different reactor conditions and probed by solid-state carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (C-13-NMR) with cross-polarization and magic-angle sample spinning. NMR experiments provided structural information about the plasma polymers. The conditions of low power, high hydrocarbon gas flow rate, and no added hydrogen gas appeared to give the highest amount of nonprotonated sp3 hybridized carbons in the films for the reactor design used. The use of methane or ethane as reactor gas did not affect plasma polymer structure significantly.