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.