Plasma polymer films and gold nanoparticles: coupling of properties to design a biosensor

The present investigation deals with the functionalization of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) with primary amine-based plasma polymer films (NH2-PPF), to improve their properties for bioanalytical applications. Cyclopropylamine (CPA) plasma polymerization, in pulsed and continuous wave radio frequency discharges, was employed to growth CPA amino-based PPFs coatings (18 nm) onto Au NPs of 12 nm of diameter deposited on glass and silicon substrates. A multi-technique investigation, based on FT-IR and XPS spectroscopies, AFM and SEM microscopies and Tof-SIMS spectrometry, revealed peculiar features of the CPA PPFs. In particular, by FT-IR it was possible to obtain an overview about the rich chemis…