Atmospheric Microplasma Application for Surface Modification of Biomaterials

Abstract

Atmospheric microplasma has been intensively studied for applications in various fields, since in this technology the generated field is only 1 kV (approx) under atmospheric pressure and a dielectric barrier discharge gap of 10 to 100 µm. A low discharge voltage atmospheric plasma process is an economical and effective solution for various applications such as indoor air control including sterilization, odor removal, and surface treatment, and would be suitable for medical applications in the field of plasma life sciences. In this paper, we present the application of microplasma for the surface treatment of materials used in medical fields. Moreover, a biomaterial composed of L-lactic acid is used in experiments, which can be biodecomposed in the human body after medical operations. The surface modification process was carried out with active species generated between the microplasma electrodes, which were observed by emission spectrometry. Microplasma treatment of a polymer sheet using Ar as the process gas decreased the contact angle of a water droplet at the surface of the polymer from 78.3 to 45.6° in 10 s, indicating improved surface adhesive characteristics.

Influence of DBD Inlet Geometry on the Homogeneity of Plasma‐Polymerized Acrylic Acid Films: The Use of a Microplasma–Electrode Inlet Configuration

“…The gas, which enters through three inlet tubes just underneath the glass plate, flows through the porous glass into the plasma. For the last inlet system, the upper crucible and electrode have been replaced by a perforated stainless steel electrode covered with a ceramic coating, developed in previous work for microplasma–electrode applications . A single inlet feeds the gas top down into the system.…”

“…For the last inlet system, the upper crucible and electrode have been replaced by a perforated stainless steel electrode covered with a ceramic coating, developed in previous work for microplasma-electrode applications. [28][29][30][31] A single inlet feeds the gas top down into the system. The latter system has been tested both with and without a quartz wool filling in between the gas inlet and the perforated electrode.…”

Enhancement of Percutaneous Absorption on Skin by Plasma Drug Delivery Method

“…These studies have reported numerous applications, such as for sterilization [2,3], decomposition of harmful substances [4] and surface treatments [5][6][7]. In recent years, this area of research has been focused on the practical utilization of atmospheric plasma in the medical filed, such as for blood coagulation [8,9], wound healing [10][11][12] and cancer treatment [13][14][15].…”