Localized surface functionalization of polycaprolactone with atmospheric-pressure microplasma jet

Surface properties of biopolymers are crucial for providing topographical and chemical cues to affect cellular behaviors, such as attachment, spreading, viability, proliferation, and differentiation. As an effective surface modification technique, plasma treatment is often applied to enhance surface wettability, adhesion, and biocompatibility of polymers. In this study, an atmospheric-pressure microplasma jet based on dielectric barrier discharge was installed on an automated arm which allows movement in the x-y-z directions at various trajectory presets. Polycaprolactone (PCL) samples were functionalized with helium-oxygen plasma generated by this system and characterized via water contact angle, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Mouse osteoblast cells (7F2) were cultured on both treated and native PCL samples and examined by MarkerGene (TM) Live: Dead/Cytotoxicity and alamarBlue (R) assaying techniques. The surface and biological characterization results indicate that microplasma treatment improved surface hydrophilicity, as well as cell viability and proliferation. The localized microplasma treatment can lead to the application of bioactive scaffolds with selective surface functionalization.