Plasma modification of polydimethylsiloxane in a hydrogen CCRF low pressure discharge Plasmaphysik Hochfrequenzentladung Dünne Schichten FT IR Spektroskopie VUV Strahlung Nanokompositschichten Polydimethylsiloxan The development of innovative coatings with multifunctional properties is an ambitious task in modification of material surfaces. A novel approach is a hybrid method combining the non thermal plasma processing with nanotechnology for the development of multifunctional surface coatings. The conception of the hybrid coating process is based on three steps: the preparation of a suspension consisting of an organic liquid and functional nanoparticles the deposition of the suspension as a thin liquid film on the material surface and the plasma modification of the liquid organic film to achieve a thin solid composite film with embedded nanoparticles demonstrating multifunctional properties and good adherence on the substrate material. In this work the liquid polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was applied as a model system and the experimental investigations were focused on the PDMS plasma modification. In particular the specific role of the different plasma components and the influence of the plasma and processing parameters on the PDMS modification were studied. The applied capacitively coupled radio frequency (CCRF) plasma was analyzed by electric probe measurements and optical emission spectroscopy whereas the molecular changes in PDMS due to plasma induced chemical reactions were studied by the Fourier transform infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy. Additionally the photocatalytic activity of thin composite films consisting of plasma cross linked PDMS with embedded TiO2 ...