Plasma-Enhanced Copolymerization of Amino Acid and Synthetic Monomers

In this paper we report the use of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) for the simultaneous deposition and copolymerization of an amino acid with other organic and inorganic monomers. We investigate the fundamental effects of plasma-enhanced copolymerization on different material chemistries in stable ultrathin coatings of mixed composition with an amino acid component. This study serves to determine the feasibility of a direct, facile method for integrating biocompatible/active materials into robust polymerized coatings with the ability to plasma copolymerize a biological molecule (L-tyrosine) with different synthetic materials in a dry, one-step process to form ultrathin coatings of mixed composition. This process may lead to a method of interfacing biologic systems with synthetic materials as a way to enhance the biomaterial-tissue interface and preserve biological activity within composite films.