Hemocompatible Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Polymer Modified via Reactive Plasma Treatment

In this paper we present the fabrication of micro- and nanostructure poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) polymer surfaces used for as synthetic vascular grafts and their hemocompatible response to plasma-treated surfaces. The surface modification of PET polymer was performed using radio frequency (RF) weakly ionized and highly dissociated oxygen or nitrogen plasma. The surface of the PET polymer was modified to enable the improved proliferation of endothelial cells. In addition to biological experiments performed in vitro by assessing the number of attached cells by tetrazolium compound (MTS)-based cell proliferation assay, we also analyzed the chemical modification of plasma-treated surfaces by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), while the changes in morphology and surface roughness were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. Our results indicate that surface treatment with both oxygen and nitrogen plasma improved the proliferation of endothelial cells, which increased with treatment time by 15 to 30%. This phenomenon was explained by the creation of new functional groups and the modification of surface morphology, which promotes the adhesion of endothelial cells. (C) 2011 The Japan Society of Applied Physics