Enhancing the biocompatibility of the polyurethane methacrylate and off-stoichiometry thiol-ene polymers by argon and nitrogen plasma treatment.

Enhancing the biocompatibility of the polyurethane methacrylate and off-stoichiometry thiol-ene polymers by argon and nitrogen plasma treatment. Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2017 Oct 01;79:613-621 Authors: Chen TF, Siow KS, Ng PY, Majlis BY Abstract Our studies focused on improving the biocompatibility properties of two microfluidic prototyping substrates i.e. polyurethane methacrylate (PUMA) and off-stoichiometry thiol-ene (OSTE-80) polymer by Ar and N2 plasma treatment. The contact angle (CA) measurement showed that both plasma treatments inserted oxygen and nitrogen moieties increased the surface energy and hydrophilicity of PUMA and OSTE-80 polymer which corresponded to an increase of nitrogen to carbon ratios (N/C), as measured by XPS, to provide a conducive environment for cell attachments and proliferation. Under the SEM observation, the surface topography of PUMA and OSTE-80 polymer showed minimal changes after the plasma treatments. Furthermore, ageing studies showed that plasma-treated PUMA and OSTE-80 polymer had stable hydrophilicity and nitrogen composition during storage in ambient air for 15days. After in vitro cell culture of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) on these surfaces for 24h and 72h, both trypan blue and alamar blue assays indicated that PUMA and OSTE-80 polymer treated with N2 plasma had the highest viability and proliferation. The polar nitrogen moieties, specifically amide groups, encour...
Source: Appl Human Sci - Category: Physiology Authors: Tags: Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl Source Type: research