Modification of PLA Scaffold Surface for Medical Applications

Abstract

Materials used for medical applications (e.g., the cellular scaffold) should have not only the specific chemical composition, but the surface layer properties as well. For this reason, a method which enables an increase in the number of pores, wettability of the surface, and improvement the conditions of nutrient transportation into the membrane is being studied. The plasma of a dielectric barrier discharge was applied for the surface modification of polylactide obtained by dry or wet phase inversion. The plasma-modified surface was analyzed by contact angle measurements with water and diiodomethane. The surface free energy (SFE) was calculated by the Owens–Wendt method. The highest SFE and its polar component (67.6 mJ/m2 and 39.5 mJ/m2, respectively) were received when the process was conducted in an Ar + CO2 gas mixture with a discharge power of 20 W. The purpose of this research was to increase the wettability and porosity of the membrane’s surface. It can be concluded that the dielectric barrier discharge can effectively change the surface of the polylactide membranes, and that the structure of the modified membranes was not damaged during modification. The process of modification was easier for the membranes made by dry phase inversion. These materials had higher SFE values after the modification.

Discharge Plasma Treatment as an Efficient Tool for Improved Poly(lactide) Adhesive–Wood Interactions

“…However, these results remained consistent with the findings from XPS and FTIR that showed the formation of new oxygen-bearing functional groups. The presented contact angles for both the pristine and plasma-treated PLA-T and PLA-MC corresponded to those reported in the literature [36][37][38], as did the observed increase in SFE from 47.9 and 45.8 mJ/m 2 , respectively, to 61.0 and 61.2 mJ/m 2 [30,39]. It must be also noticed that changes induced by plasma are prone to disappear with time [26,37].…”

Into the Tissues: Extracellular Matrix and Its Artificial Substitutes: Cell Signalling Mechanisms

“…It is essential to confirm that the material is safe for the body and does not cause adverse acute or long-term reactions. Similar requirements are placed on various other implants, not only artificial cellular scaffolds [ 395 , 396 , 397 , 398 , 399 , 400 , 401 , 402 ].…”

Modified Industrial Three-Dimensional Polylactic Acid Scaffold Cell Chip Promotes the Proliferation and Differentiation of Human Neural Stem Cells

“…PLA hydrophobicity renders bone cell attachment and proliferation difficult [35]. It has been reported that to enhance the surface of an IPTS cell chip, a surface modification method using a material capable of increasing the surface adhesive force, wettability, roughness, and the number of built-in functional groups must be considered [36]. Some studies reported increased cell proliferation after surface roughening [7], surface modification by peptides, hyaluronic acid incubation, addition of collagen, and mussel adhesive proteins [37].…”