Plasma modification of poly lactic acid solutions to generate high quality electrospun PLA nanofibers

Physical properties of pre-electrospinning polymer solutions play a key role in electrospinning as they strongly determine the morphology of the obtained electrospun nanofibers. In this work, an atmospheric-pressure argon plasma directly submerged in the liquid-phase was used to modify the physical properties of poly lactic acid (PLA) spinning solutions in an effort to improve their electrospinnability. The electrical characteristics of the plasma were investigated by two methods; V-I waveforms and Q-V Lissajous plots while the optical emission characteristics of the plasma were also determined using optical emission spectroscopy (OES). To perform a complete physical characterization of the plasma-modified polymer solutions, measurements of viscosity, surface tension, and electrical conductivity were performed for various PLA concentrations, plasma exposure times, gas flow rates, and applied voltages. Moreover, a fast intensified charge-couple device (ICCD) camera was used to image the bubble dynamics during the plasma treatments. In addition, morphological changes of PLA nanofibers generated from plasma-treated PLA solutions were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The performed plasma treatments were found to induce significant changes to the main physical properties of the PLA solutions, leading to an enhancement of electrospinnability and an improvement of PLA nanofiber formation

Effects of a Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) treatment on chitosan/polyethylene oxide nanofibers and their cellular interactions

C

Plasma Modified Textiles for Biomedical Applications

In the textile market industry, technical textiles are one of the fastest growing businesses. Part of that industry consists of textiles for medical and healthcare applications and are responsible for a continuous increase in its market potential [1]. Next to their need in hospital environments, there is a growing demand in other sectors such as the food and hotel industry, due to stricter hygiene regulations. In most cases biomedical textile meets a well-defined set of requirements such as minimizing non-specific protein adsorption, drug delivery coatings or the presence of active functional coatings and most importantly excellent biocompatibility (blood-, tissue-or cyto-compatibility) [2]. In general there are very few materials meeting all these characteristics, while at the same time offering the needed structural and mechanical properties. Furthermore, depending on the application, the production process has to be cost-effective and approved by local legislation

Applications of plasma-liquid systems : a review

Plasma-liquid systems have attracted increasing attention in recent years, owing to their high potential in material processing and nanoscience, environmental remediation, sterilization, biomedicine, and food applications. Due to the multidisciplinary character of this scientific field and due to its broad range of established and promising applications, an updated overview is required, addressing the various applications of plasma-liquid systems till now. In the present review, after a brief historical introduction on this important research field, the authors aimed to bring together a wide range of applications of plasma-liquid systems, including nanomaterial processing, water analytical chemistry, water purification, plasma sterilization, plasma medicine, food preservation and agricultural processing, power transformers for high voltage switching, and polymer solution treatment. Although the general understanding of plasma-liquid interactions and their applications has grown significantly in recent decades, it is aimed here to give an updated overview on the possible applications of plasma-liquid systems. This review can be used as a guide for researchers from different fields to gain insight in the history and state-of-the-art of plasma-liquid interactions and to obtain an overview on the acquired knowledge in this field up to now

Non-thermal plasma assisted lithography for biomedical applications: an overview

A

Characterization of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet and its application for treatment of non-woven textiles

Atmospheric pressure plasma jets are well-known in the plasma chemistry community because of their novel applications. However, in spite of a large amount of publications, the physical chemistry of plasma jet/surface interactions is still unknown. In this work, an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) in pure argon will be used to modify the surface of PET non-woven textiles. In a first part of the paper, the plasma jet will be characterized using current-voltage waveforms, time resolved ICCD images and optical emission spectroscopy. Afterwards, the influence of water vapor addition on these plasma characteristics will be briefly mentioned. In a second part of this work, one layer and several textile layers will be modified using the APPJ in pure argon. These surface modification results clearly show that the APPJ in argon can effectively enhance the hydrophilicity of several textile layers and can thus modify the inner surface of porous materials

Nonthermal Plasma Technology as a Versatile Strategy for Polymeric Biomaterials Surface Modification: A Review

In modern technology, there is a constant need to solve very complex problems and to fine-tune existing solutions. This is definitely the case in modern medicine with emerging fields such as regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. The problems, which are studied in these fields, set very high demands on the applied materials. In most cases, it is impossible to find a single material that meets all demands such as biocompatibility, mechanical strength, biodegradability (if required), and promotion of cell-adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. A common strategy to circumvent this problem is the application of composite materials, which combine the properties of the different constituents. Another possible strategy is to selectively modify the surface of a material using different modification techniques. In the past decade, the use of nonthermal plasmas for selective surface modification has been a rapidly growing research field. This will be the highlight of this review. In a first part of this paper, a general introduction in the field of surface engineering will be given. Thereafter, we will focus on plasma-based strategies for surface modification. The purpose of the present review is twofold. First, we wish to provide a tutorial-type review that allows a fast introduction for researchers into the field. Second, we aim to give a comprehensive overview of recent work on surface modification of polymeric biomaterials, with a focus on plasma-based strategies. Some recent trends will be exemplified. On the basis of this literature study, we will conclude with some future trends for research

Effects of pre- and post-electrospinning plasma treatments on electrospun PCL nanofibers to improve cell interactions

In this study, liquid plasma treatment was used to improve the morphology of Poly-CaproLactone (PCL) NanoFibers (NFs), followed by performing a Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma surface modification to enhance the hydrophilicity of electrospun mats generated from plasma-modified PCL solutions. Cell interaction studies performed after 1 day and 7 days clearly revealed the highly increased cellular interactions on the double plasma-treated nanofibers compared to the pristine ones due to the combination of (1) a better NF morphology and (2) an increased surface hydrophilicity