Pulsed DC discharge for synthesis of conjugated plasma polymerized aniline thin film

The polymerization of aniline in pulsed dc plasma is studied and the effects of variation of pressure, power, frequency and duty cycle on the chemical structure of the obtained film are examined. During the film deposition optical emission spectroscopy is used to investigate the molecular dissociation of aniline. The chemical structure of the films is characterized using Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy. The surface morphology is studied using atomic force microscopy. Results show the retention of polyaniline like structure having conjugated nature at some particular discharge conditions. Moreover, it is observed that a strong dependence of film chemistry is obvious on the discharge power, reactor pressure, pulse repetition frequency and duty cycle. The advantages of the pulsed dc for deposition of conjugated plasma polymerizes thin film have been highlighted. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.