Physicochemical and Mechanical Performance of Freestanding Boron-Doped Diamond Nanosheets Coated with C:H:N:O Plasma Polymer
Michał Rycewicz,
Łukasz Macewicz,
Jiri Kratochvil,
Alicja Stanisławska,
Mateusz Ficek,
Mirosław Sawczak,
Vitezslav Stranak,
Marek Szkodo,
Robert Bogdanowicz
Affiliations
Michał Rycewicz
Department of Metrology and Optoelectronics, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunication and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology, Gabriela Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Łukasz Macewicz
Department of Metrology and Optoelectronics, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunication and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology, Gabriela Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Jiri Kratochvil
Institute of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 1760, 37005 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
Alicja Stanisławska
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, Gabriela Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Mateusz Ficek
Department of Metrology and Optoelectronics, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunication and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology, Gabriela Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Mirosław Sawczak
Polish Academy of Sciences, The Szewalski Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery, Fiszera 14, 80-231 Gdańsk, Poland
Vitezslav Stranak
Institute of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 1760, 37005 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
Marek Szkodo
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, Gabriela Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Robert Bogdanowicz
Department of Metrology and Optoelectronics, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunication and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology, Gabriela Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
The physicochemical and mechanical properties of thin and freestanding heavy boron-doped diamond (BDD) nanosheets coated with a thin C:H:N:O plasma polymer were studied. First, diamond nanosheets were grown and doped with boron on a Ta substrate using the microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique (MPECVD). Next, the BDD/Ta samples were covered with nylon 6.6 to improve their stability in harsh environments and flexibility during elastic deformations. Plasma polymer films with a thickness of the 500–1000 nm were obtained by magnetron sputtering of a bulk target of nylon 6.6. Hydrophilic nitrogen-rich C:H:N:O was prepared by the sputtering of nylon 6.6. C:H:N:O as a film with high surface energy improves adhesion in ambient conditions. The nylon–diamond interface was perfectly formed, and hence, the adhesion behavior could be attributed to the dissipation of viscoelastic energy originating from irreversible energy loss in soft polymer structure. Diamond surface heterogeneities have been shown to pin the contact edge, indicating that the retraction process causes instantaneous fluctuations on the surface in specified microscale regions. The observed Raman bands at 390, 275, and 220 cm−1 were weak; therefore, the obtained films exhibited a low level of nylon 6 polymerization and short-distance arrangement, indicating crystal symmetry and interchain interactions. The mechanical properties of the nylon-on-diamond were determined by a nanoindentation test in multiload mode. Increasing the maximum load during the nanoindentation test resulted in a decreased hardness of the fabricated structure. The integration of freestanding diamond nanosheets will make it possible to design flexible chemical multielectrode sensors.
