Aerosol-assisted atmospheric pressure cold plasma deposition of organic-inorganic nanocomposite coatings

Low pressure plasma technologies have been widely and successfully utilized for the production of a large variety of organic-inorganic nanocomposite (NC) thin films consisting of metal or metal oxide nanoparticles embedded in a polymer matrix. Recently, the deposition of this class of coatings has been also accomplished by atmospheric pressure cold plasmas using aerosol-assisted processes in which a dispersion containing preformed inorganic nanoparticles and the liquid precursor of the polymeric component is atomized and injected in aerosol form in the atmospheric plasma. This short review is aimed at presenting this approach which is expected to enlarge the range of structures and properties of organic-inorganic NC coatings deposited by cold plasma technologies.