H. AKTHER1* and J. A. SYED2
1=Dr. Hasina Akther, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Textiles, Dhaka 1208 and 2=Jamal Ahmed Syed, Professor, Department of Physics, Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology (DUET), Gazipur 1700, Bangladesh. *Corresponding author’s Email: hasinabutex@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Plasma polymerized N,N,3,5 tetramethylaniline (PPTMA) thin films were deposited on to glass substrates at room temperature by a parallel plate capacitively coupled glow discharge reactor. The surface morphology of PPTMA thin films was observed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the chemical structure was investigated by Elemental Analysis (EA) and Infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The surfaces of PPTMA thin films were observed to be uniform, pinhole and fracture free. The empirical formula of PPTMA thin film was determined to be C7.70H10.30N0.80O1.50. The IR analyses revealed that PPTMA films contained an aromatic ring structure with NC and CH side groups, presence of C=O was also evident which might be arisen due to the oxidation of the hydrocarbon part of PPTMA thin film. The X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to see the surface elemental composition and to elucidate the chemical environment of the atoms in PPTMA thin films. The XPS analyses showed that C, N, and O were present on the surface of the thin film and possible groups C-H, C=C, C-N and C=O were found in the PPTMA structure. The atomic ratio N/C of the PPTMA thin film bulk and surface are found to be 0.12 and 0.22 by EA and XPS respectively.
Keywords: Plasma polymerization, N,N,3,5 tetramethylaniline, XPS, Thin film and Elemental analysis.