ABSTRACT:Surface modification of three species of PHAs, PHB, P(HB-co-HV) and P(HB-co-HH), were carried out by 40 keV C + ion implantations at four different doses, 1 × 10 12 , 1 × 10 13 , 1 × 10 14 , and 1 × 10 15 ions cm −2 . Remarkable changes between the pristine samples and the implanted samples were observed for the FT-IR and XPS spectra. Fibroblast culture was conducted to investigate the surface biocompatibility changes caused by the implantation of C + .From the results of the MTT colorimetric test and the cell morphology observation assessed by SEM, FI and Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM), there were several evidence that the cytocompatibility of the films were improved by ion implantation and the best cytocompatibility was achieved at the ion dose of 1 × 10 12 for all the three species of PHAs. Possible explanation is given by correlating the cell adhesion figures with the chemical and physical changes in the modified surfaces. Results show that the PHAs modified by ion implanting could be a promising family of biomaterials for tissue engineering.KEY WORDS Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) / Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) / Surface Characterization / Ion Implantation / Cytocompatibility / Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a class of polyesters mainly synthesized by several kinds of bacteria. 1, 2 Because of their thermal plasticity, biocompatibility and biodegradability, there have been many examples of PHAs' applications in the medical and agricultural fields. Its application as scaffold materials in tissue engineering and drug carrier in controlled release is getting high impetus these days. 3 To tailor the surface properties to some specific application, several surface modification methods such as treatment with NaOH and lipases, 4 plasma treatment 5 and 60 Co γ-radiation 6 have been investigated.Ion implantation has long been recognized as a useful method to improve the surface property of metals and semiconductors without significantly altering the materials' bulk property. A plasma-based ion implantation (PBII) technique is used for surface modification of materials and for improving surface properties. 14 In recent years, ion implantation has been applied to the surface modification of polymers to improve blood compatibility 15-17 and tissue compatibility. 18 Many researches undertaken up to now focus on the wettability, 8, 9 conductivity 10, 11 and tribological properties 7, 12, 13 change of the implanted polymer surfaces. The results show that ion implantation is a very effective method of surface modification in these fields. In recent years, progress of research on the surface modification of polymers by ion implantation is expected in the biomedical field for improving biocompatibility and for conveying biofunction abilities such as antibacterial, cell-orientation and selective adhesion properties. [18][19][20] The C + implantation has been applied to several polymers, for example, PTFE 9 and PET 13 to improve their surface properties. In this study, we investigated the surface modification ...