Lubricity vessel coating, coating process and apparatus

Abstract

A method for coating a substrate surface by PECVD is provided, the method comprising generating a plasma from a gaseous reactant comprising an organosilicon precursor and optionally O 2 . The lubricity, hydrophobicity and/or barrier properties of the coating are set by setting the ratio of the O 2 to the organo silicon precursor in the gaseous reactant, and/or by setting the electric power used for generating the plasma. In particular, a lubricity coating made by said method is provided. Vessels coated by said method and the use of such vessels protecting a compound or composition contained or received in said coated vessel against mechanical and/or chemical effects of the surface of the uncoated vessel material are also provided.

1 . A method for preparing a lubricity coating on a plastic substrate, the method comprising:
 (a) providing a gas comprising an organosilicon precursor, and optionally O 2 , and optionally a noble gas, in the vicinity of the substrate surface; and   (b) generating a plasma in the gas, thus forming a coating on the substrate surface by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the organosilicon precursor is a monocyclic siloxane. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein O 2  is in a volume-volume ratio to the organosilicon precursor of from 0:1 to 0.5:1. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the noble gas comprises argon, helium, xenon, neon, or a combination of two or more of these. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the gas comprises from 1 to 6 standard volumes of the organosilicon precursor, from 1 to 100 standard volumes of the noble gas, and from 0.1 to 2 standard volumes of O 2 . 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein both Ar and O 2  are present. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 :
 (i) wherein the plasma is generated with an electric power of from 0.1 to 25 W; and   (ii) wherein the ratio of the electrode power to the plasma volume is less than 10 W/ml.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the resulting coating has a roughness when determined by AFM and expressed as RMS of from more than 0 to 25 nm. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , additionally comprising preparing a barrier coating on the substrate before the lubricity coating is applied:
 (a) providing a gas comprising an organosilicon precursor and O 2  in the vicinity of the substrate surface; and   (b) generating a plasma from the gas, thus forming a SiO x  barrier coating on the substrate surface by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9  wherein when preparing the barrier coating:
 (i) the plasma is generated with electrodes powered with sufficient power to form a SiO x  barrier coating on the substrate surface; 
 (ii) the ratio of the electrode power to the plasma volume is equal or more than 5 W/ml, preferably is from 6 W/ml to 150 W/ml; and 
 (iii) the O 2  is present in a volume:volume ratio of from 1:1 to 100:1 in relation to the silicon containing precursor. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the organosilicon precursor for the barrier coating is a linear siloxane. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a polymer selected from the group consisting of a polycarbonate, an olefin polymer, a cyclic olefin copolymer and a polyester. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the plasma is generated with electrodes powered at a radio frequency. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the resulting lubricity coating has an atomic ratio Si w O x C y  or Si w N x C y  wherein w is 1, x is from about 0.5 to about 2.4, y is from about 0.6 to about 3. 
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . A plastic substrate coated with a lubricity coating made by:
 (a) providing a gas comprising an organosilicon precursor, and optionally O 2 , and optionally a noble gas, in the vicinity of the substrate surface; and   (b) generating a plasma in the gas, thus forming a coating on the substrate surface by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD);   wherein the lubricity coating has a lower frictional resistance than the uncoated surface.   
     
     
         17 . The coated substrate according to  claim 16 , additionally comprising at least one layer of SiO x , wherein x is from 1.5 to 2.9, wherein (i) the SiO x  layer is situated between the lubricity coating and the substrate surface. 
     
     
         18 . The coated substrate according to  claim 17 , wherein the SiO x  barrier coating has a thickness of from 20 to 30 nm and the lubricity coating has an average thickness of from 1 to 5000 nm. 
     
     
         19 . The coated substrate according to  claim 16 , wherein the lubricity coating is more hydrophobic than the uncoated surface. 
     
     
         20 . A vessel having an interior surface coated at least in part with a lubricity coating made by:
 (a) providing a gas comprising an organosilicon precursor, and optionally O 2  and optionally a noble gas, in the vicinity of the interior surface; and   (b) generating a plasma in the gas, thus forming a coating on the substrate surface by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD);   wherein the lubricity coating has a lower frictional resistance than the uncoated interior surface by at least 25%.   
     
     
         21 . The coated vessel according to  claim 20  which contains a medicament. 
     
     
         22 . The coated vessel according to  claim 20 , which is a syringe or syringe part, in which the interior surface is defined by a syringe barrel. 
     
     
         23 . The coated vessel of  claim 22 , wherein the plunger initation force Fi is from 2.5 to 5 lbs and the plunger maintenance force Fm is from 2.5 to 8 lbs. 
     
     
         24 . The coated vessel of  claim 22 , wherein the lubricity coating has the atomic ratio Si w O x C y  or Si w N x C y  wherein w is 1, x is from about 0.5 to about 2.4, and y is from about 0.6 to about 3. 
     
     
         25 . The coated vessel of  claim 2 , wherein the lubricity coating has an average thickness of from 10 to 1000 nm. 
     
     
         26 . The coated vessel of  claim 2 , wherein the plastic substrate is COC, wherein the gas in step (a) comprises octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, O 2  and Ar, and wherein the power for generating the plasma is from 6 W/ml to 0.1 W/ml in relation to the volume of the syringe lumen. 
     
     
         27 . The coated vessel of coated vessel of  claim 20 , which contains a medicament. 
     
     
         28 - 30 . (canceled)