The relationship between cellular adhesion and surface roughness for polyurethane modified by microwave plasma radiation

Surface modification of medical polymers is carried out to improve biocompatibility. In this study, conventional polyurethane was exposed to microwave plasma treatment with oxygen and argon gases for 30 seconds and 60 seconds. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectra investigations of irradiated samples indicated the presence of functional groups. Atomic force microscope images of samples irradiated with inert and active gases indicated the nanometric topography of the sample surfaces. Samples irradiated by oxygen plasma indicated high roughness compared with those irradiated by inert plasma for the different lengths of time. In addition, surface roughness increased with time, which can be due to a reduction of contact angle of samples irradiated by oxygen plasma. Contact angle analysis indicated a reduction in samples irradiated with both types of plasma. However, samples irradiated with oxygen plasma indicated lower contact angle compared with those irradiated by argon plasma. Cellular investigations with unrestricted somatic stem cells showed better adhesion, cell growth, and proliferation among samples radiated by oxygen plasma for longer than for normal samples.