Quantitative characterization of surface amino groups of plasma-polymerized films prepared from nitrogen-containing monomers for bioelectronic applications

The surface amino groups of plasma-polymerized films prepared from various nitrogen-containing monomers were quantitatively characterized for bioelectronic and biomedical applications. X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were conducted on two kinds of surfaces: pristine surfaces of plasma-polymerized film prepared using various nitrogen-containing monomers, and theirs surfaces whose amino groups had been derivatized by a primary-amine-selective reagent carrying an XPS label. The XPS data showed that the maximum surface density of amino groups for this film was 8.4 x 10 ¹³ cm^-2. Amino groups constituted 14-64% of all surface nitrogen atoms (NH/N), depending on the monomer used.