AbstractsEngineering

There has been an increasing need and great interest in both the fundamental science and the cutting-edge technology to modify the surfaces of nanoparticles. Such a surface modification must be done at the nanoscale in terms of structure, composition, and uniformity. The great challenge therefore lies critically on the deposition of a film on the order of a few nanometers on the surfaces of the nanoparticles. In this thesis, the uniform deposition of ultrathin polymer films of 2-10 nm on the surfaces of nanoparticles and nanotubes by plasma polymerization was demonstrated. The deposited film can also be tailored to different compositions. High Resolution Electron Microscopy (HREM), Time-of-flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS), Infrared Spectroscopy (IR) and other tests were used to confirm the polymer coating on the nanoparticle surfaces. Other tests, such as Contact Angle and ion exchange, were used to test the surface properties of the modified nanoparticles.