Plasma polymerization of phenyl isothiocyanate

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Abstract
Thin polymer films were obtained by plasma polymerization of phenyl isothiocyanate. Polymerizations were carried out in rf (13.56 MHz) glow discharge generated in an electrodeless flow system. It was found that this monomer produces uniform films with a wide range of thicknesses, from hundreds of nanometers to tens of micrometers. The deposition rate appeared to be dependent on the substrate distance from the monomer inlet. The chemical structure of plasma polymer was characterized by using elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, gas chromatography, and mass spectrometry. Elemental analysis showed that the composition of polymer depends on the substrate position in the reactor. It was observed that sulphur content decreased with increasing the substrate distance from the monomer inlet, whereas nitrogen content appeared to increase. The IR data revealed significant decrease in —NCS groups content in the polymer as compared with the monomer spectrum and indicated for the appearance of new absorption bands corresponding to the CN and CH aliphatic, groups. The results account for a strong fragmentation of monomer in plasma involved in decomposition of isothiocyanate group and phenyl ring. The soluble fraction of polymeric material was examined by gas chromatography and then the separated products were analyzed by mass spectrometry. The soluble fraction was found to be composed of numerous low molecular‐weight compounds. Identification of their structure revealed the presence of residual monomer, thiophenol, cyanobenzene, diphenyl, diphenyl sulphide, diphenyl disulphide, phenyl thiocyanate, dicyanobenzene, phenatroline, and some other oligomeric products. Formation of these compounds proves high susceptibility of NCS group in the monomer towards different fragmentation reactions. The surface free energy and electrical conductivity of polymer films were evaluated. The surface free energy value was very close to those estimated for plasma polymers deposited from other benzene derivatives. The low electrical conductivity manifested by the investigated polymeric material indicated for its dielectric character. The photoelectrical measurements revealed some photoconductivity effect in this material.