Polyacrylic acid thin films have been deposited by an original and fast technique to grow organic coatings: a pulsed‐arc atmospheric pressure plasma jet. Liquid acrylic acid was introduced in the nitrogen plasma jet and OES was used to measure the fragmentation of the precursor. The films were characterized by XPS, FTIR and SEM analyses before and after soaking in water. The water stability was also investigated by weight loss measurement. A high retention of carboxylic moieties, i.e. functional groups of the monomer has been observed for coatings deposited under mild conditions for the jet (low frequency and high jet speed). These films have been used for cell adhesion using human ovarian carcinoma cells (NIH:OVCAR‐3). Good results have been obtained depending on the plasma parameters, showing that atmospheric pressure plasma jet is a promising technique to grow organic thin films for biomedical applications.magnified image

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Catalyst-free ring-opening polymerization (ROP) strategy was developed to overcome the disadvantage of incomplete and expensive removal of catalyst used during the multistep wet chemical processes. Nano-sized biocompatible and low molecular weight poly(ε-carolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PCL-PEG) copolymer coatings were deposited via a single-step, low-pressure, pulsed-plasma polymerization process. Experiments were performed at different monomer feed ratio and effective plasma power. The coatings were analyzed by XPS, as well as MALDI ToF. Ellipsometric measurement showed deposition rates ranging from 1.3 to 3 nm/min, depending on the ratio of the PCL/PEG precursors introduced in the reactor. Our results have demonstrated that plasma copolymerized PCL-PEG coatings can be tailored in such a way to be cell adherent, convenient for biomedical implants such as artificial skin substrates, or cell repellent, which can be used as antibiofouling surfaces for urethral catheters, cardiac stents, and so on. The global objective of this study is to tailor the surface properties of PCL by copolymerizing it with PEG in the pulsed plasma environment to improve their applicability in tissue engineering and biomedical science.

International audienceThere exists an abundant literature on polymers used for biomedical applications. However, the research describedin this article deals with the plasma (co)polymerisation of different organic precursors for surface modifications ofa variety of substrates in order to tailor the physico-chemical properties of the substrates for tuneable biomolecule–surface interactions. The major part of the work presented focuses on the low-pressure inductively excited plasmaenhancedchemical vapour deposition of organic precursors for the functionalisations of material. In the second part ofthe article, an open-air custom-made atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma jet is discussed forthe anti-fouling applications. This special focus aims to elaborate the state of the art of different low and atmosphericpressure plasma-deposited polymers for anti-fouling applications, cell–surface interactions and tissue engineeringapplications

Statistically designed amphiphilic copolymer coatings were deposited onto Thermanox, Si wafer, and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) substrates via Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition of 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl acrylate and diethylene glycol vinyl ether in an Inductively Excited Low Pressure Plasma reactor. Plasma deposited amphiphilic coatings were characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, and Water Contact Angle techniques. The surface energy of the coatings can be adjusted between 12 and 70 mJ/m(2). The roughness of the coatings can be tailored depending on the plasma mode used. A very smooth coating was deposited with a CW (continuous wave) power, whereas a rougher surface with R(a) in the range of 2 to 12 nm was deposited with the PW (pulsed wave) mode. The nanometer scale roughness of amphiphilic PFDA-co-DEGVE coatings was found to be in the range of the size of the two proteins namely BSA and lysozyme used to examine for the antifouling properties of the surfaces. The results show that the statistically designed surfaces, presenting a surface energy around 25 mJ/m(2), present no adhesion with respect to both proteins measured by QCM.

http://www.interscience.wiley.com/International audienceIn the present work, for the first time, nano-thick peptidomimetic coatings were developedusing a LP inductively excited pulsed plasma polymerization of 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline (ppEtOz) tocontrol the cell-surface interactions for biological applications. The different ppEtOz coatedsurfaces were investigated by FTIR-ATR, XPS, Ellipsometric, and WCA analysis. Using Gaussiandeconvolution method for IR spectra, we compared the modifications obtained in the chemicalcompositions for ppEtOz coated samples obtained under different plasma parameters. It wasfound that the amide I/amide II ratios decreasedas the effective plasma power increased, which inturn decreased the surface hydrophilicity forppEtOz coatings. Cell repellent properties of theppEtOz coatings deposited at Peff¼1W and 2.5Wwere achieved

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A custom made non‐equilibrium atmospheric pressure argon plasma jet was developed for the deposition of PEG like coatings in open‐air for cell repellent applications. OES and electrical measurements were performed to characterize the discharge. The emission of the N2 (C3Πu–B3Πg) was followed in order to minimize the air entry in the plasma. Surface analyses were carried out on ap‐DEG coatings and the best retention of COC was obtained under mild plasma conditions. The ap‐DEG coatings were compared with typical LP deposited PEG like coatings. Less retention of COC and therefore less cell repellent properties were observed for ap‐DEG coatings as compared to those deposited at low pressure.