ABSTRACT
When an electrical discharge of an organic compound (monomer) is created, roughly 98% of the monomer leaves the gas phase in a relatively short time, and the nonpolymerizable gases (mainly hydrogen) remain in the gas phase. The molecules left the gas phase deposit on surfaces existing in the reactor. In a nonmagnetron DC glow discharge polymerization, roughly 80% of polymer deposition occurs on the surface of the cathode and the remaining part on other surfaces including the anode. In high-frequency alternating current, e.g., 10 kHz, this balance does not change because both electrodes act as cathode in half of the discharge time, although the deposition on each electrode drops to one-half that on DC cathode. In these cases, the dissociation glow adheres to the electrode(s).
