Surface analysis of different O2-activated polyurethane-co-silicones using XPS

• Published in: Current directions in biomedical engineering Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 556 - 559
• Main Authors: Lange, Helge, Eickner, Thomas, Grabow, Niels, Wulf, Katharina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter 02.09.2022
• Subjects: O2 plasma cold plasma; PCU-Sil; surface modification; XPS
• ISSN: 2364-5504
• DOI: 10.1515/cdbme-2022-1142

Polycarbonate-urethane-co-silicone (PCU-Sil) are gaining increasing interest in biomedical application, such as drug delivery systems, coatings and combination products, due to their adjustable mechanical properties. They can be easily processed using a wide range of methods. Biocompatibility can be improved by surface modifications, such as coupling drugs, proteins, antibodies or polymer layers, which extends the range of biomedical applications. To generate additional coupling, the first step would be the generation of functional groups on the polymer surface using surface activations, such as plasma activation. In this context, the assignment of the functional groups is important, which can be done by XPS measurements. Within this study the analysis of the generated functional groups after oxygen (O2) plasma activation of two PCU-Sils was performed. In addition, the stability of the generated surface modification was evaluated after 24 hours. It was surprising that the generated groups were differently stable and also different groups were generated or rearranged over time, which would not have been recognizable if only contact angle measurements were used.