Synthesis of Nanoparticles by Plasma Polymerization for Biomedical Applications

Nanoparticles can be produced by plasma polymerization from different precursors at low or atmospheric pressure. The polymers produced by plasma polymerization are not chemically regular as conventional polymers; they are complex and rich in functional groups. The variety of chemical groups is due to the fragmentation of the precursor as well as other gases present during the reaction. The concentration of these groups on the nanoparticle surface can be tuned by changing plasma polymerization variables. In this work we demonstrate the preparation of nanoparticles by plasma polymerization of poly(ethylene glycol), poly(ethylene glycol) copolymerized with pyrrole, and hexamethyldisiloxane. Nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy.