| AVS 54th International Symposium | |
| Plasma Science and Technology | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session PS2-WeA |
| Session: | Plasmas and Polymers |
| Presenter: | P. Favia, University of Bari, Italy |
| Authors: | P. Favia, University of Bari, Italy E. Sardella, University of Bari, Italy F. Intranuovo, University of Bari, Italy P. Rossini, Plasma Solution Srl, Spin off of the University of Bari, Italy R. Gristina, Institute of Inorganic Methodologies and Plasma (IMIP) CNR, Italy M. Nardulli, University of Bari, Italy |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Plasma processes are widely used for biomedical applications.1 Surface chemistry and morphology of substrates to be used in cell-adhesion and growth experiments can be modified by means of plasma (RF 13.56 MHz) PE-CVD from fluorocarbon feeds. Smooth and nano/micro-structured coatings could be obtained by tuning plasma parameters. Discharges fed with hexafluoropropylene oxide (HFPO) were run in continuous mode, and teflon-like coatings with different roughness values have been obtained by changing the afterglow distance with respect to the gas inlet of the plasma reactor.2 In our previous work,3 a study of nano-structured surfaces obtained from C2F4 was related to the deposition time. FT-IR, XPS, WCA, AFM and SEM analysis were used to analyze the chemical composition and the morphology of deposited coatings that were obtained by varying the substrate position in the plasma reactor. Nano-structured and flat coatings deposited on PET substrates were coated with a very thin homogeneous plasma deposited teflon-like film from C2F4 (6 sccm C2F4, 200 mtorr, 100 W, 21 s) to obtain surfaces with different roughness but identical chemical composition, to be used in cell-growth experiments. FT-IR, XPS and AFM data show that the "teflon character" (amount of the CF2/C1s component) of the coating increases with the afterglow distance, as well as the hydrophobic character and the roughness (RRMS from 1± 0.2 nm to 350±43 nm). AFM images show different coating structures (e.g. nanopitted and cauliflower-like) as a function of the afterglow distance. Two coatings deposited at different positions, thus characterized by different morphology/roughness, have been selected for cell-growth experiments with 3T3 fibroblasts. Cell culture tests showed a different behavior when cell adhesion and growth were compared between nano-structured and flat coatings with the same surface chemistry. Acknowledgements: The MIUR-FIRB RBNE01458S project is gratefully acknowledged for the financial support.
1Plasma Processes for Biomedical Applications, Plasma Processes and Polymers 3(6/7), 2006, Special issue
2Castner, Favia, Ratner; Surface Modifications of Polymeric Biomaterials, Castner and Ratner eds, Plenum Press, 45, 1996
3Gristina, D’Aloia, Senesi, Sardella, d’Agostino, Favia; European Cells and Materials, 7, 1, 2004.