Initiated chemical vapor deposition of biopassivation coatings

Organosilicon polymers show great utility as both biocompatible and electrically insulating materials. In this work, thin films of a novel organosilicon polymer are synthesized by initiated CVD utilizing trivinyl-trimethyl cyclotrisiloxane as a monomer and terbutyl peroxide as a free radical generating initiator. Use of an initiator allows for formation of polymer films at filament temperatures as low as 250 °C which allows for retention of all siloxane ring moieties within the resulting polymer. The all-dry deposition process generates a highly crosslinked matrix material in which over 95% of the vinyl moieties present on the monomer units have been reacted out to form linear polymerized hydrocarbon chains. The material possesses an electrical resistivity of 4 × 10¹⁵ Ω cm. In addition, biased soak testing of material samples in a simulated biological environment demonstrates retention of electrical material properties for greater than 2 years.