Hydrogen termination polymer deposition

It is important to note that HFE is not a monomer of general plasma polymerization because it does not polymerize in the absence of hydrogen in a reactor system [22]. When it is applied to a TMS plasma polymer surface, however, hydrogen is abstracted from the surface and forms a very thin layer of plasma polymer. It is essentially a self-terminating deposition process leading to an extremely thin layer of HFE plasma polymer. XPS analysis indicated that the thickness of the F-containing layer in the TMS/HFE system is less than a few nanometers [23]. 

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