Preparation of O<SUB>2</SUB> Plasma Treated Polycaprolactone/Nano TiO<SUB>2</SUB> Composites and In Vitro Bioactivity

Abstract

Polycaprolactone (PCL)/TiO2 composite films (PTCFs) were prepared by a solvent casting method at various concentrations of TiO2 (1, 3, 5, and 10 wt%) and then treated using oxygen plasma. The hydrophilicity of the oxygen plasma treated PTCFs increased as the treatment time was increased, due to the oxygen induced production of polar species at the surface of the PTCFs. In vitro bioactivities of the composite films were examined by immersion in simulated body fluid for up to 7 days. It was found that the oxygen plasma treatment significantly influenced the in vitro bioactivity of the PTCFs.

Fabrication of 3D Polycaprolactone Macrostructures by 3D Electrospinning

“…The main peaks of PCL remain present in the fiber untreated and treated with the plasma treatment. However, only the FTIR spectrum of treated fibers appeared with new peaks at 3000–3400 and 1670 cm –1 attributed to OH stretching vibration modes, and 1670 cm –1 may be the bending mode of adsorbed water or the amide I band. , Moreover, the wettability was investigated to confirm the improvement of hydrophilic properties of PCL-fibrous structures by the customized setup of the contact angle measurement. As shown in Figure S22, it was found that the contact angles of untreated and treated structures with 10 W for 5 min were 99.34 ± 8.63 and 95.71 ± 0.13 degrees, respectively, while the contact angles of plasma-treated structures with the 30, 50, and 70 W for 5 min cannot be measured because of the fast absorption of water droplets into the surface.…”