TY - JOUR
T1 - Rapid Functionalization of Polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) Surfaces with Nitrogen Functional Groups
AU - Vesel, Alenka
AU - Zaplotnik, Rok
AU - Primc, Gregor
AU - Mozetic, Miran
AU - Katan, Tadeja
AU - Kargl, Rupert
AU - Mohan, Tamilselvan
AU - Stana Kleinschek, Karin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/12/1
Y1 - 2021/12/1
N2 - The biocompatibility of body implants made from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is inadequate; therefore, the surface should be grafted with biocompatible molecules. Because PTFE is an inert polymer, the adhesion of the biocompatible film may not be appropriate. Therefore, the PFTE surface should be modified to enable better adhesion, preferably by functionalization with amino groups. A two-step process for functionalization of PTFE surface is described. The first step employs inductively coupled hydrogen plasma in the H-mode and the second ammonia plasma. The evolution of functional groups upon treatment with ammonia plasma in different modes is presented. The surface is saturated with nitrogen groups within a second if ammonia plasma is sustained in the H-mode at the pressure of 35 Pa and forward power of 200 W. The nitrogen-rich surface film persists for several seconds, while prolonged treatment causes etching. The etching is suppressed but not eliminated using pulsed ammonia plasma at 35 Pa and 200 W. Ammonia plasma in the E-mode at the same pressure, but forward power of 25 W, causes more gradual functionalization and etching was not observed even at prolonged treatments up to 100 s. Detailed investigation of the XPS spectra enabled revealing the surface kinetics for all three cases
AB - The biocompatibility of body implants made from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is inadequate; therefore, the surface should be grafted with biocompatible molecules. Because PTFE is an inert polymer, the adhesion of the biocompatible film may not be appropriate. Therefore, the PFTE surface should be modified to enable better adhesion, preferably by functionalization with amino groups. A two-step process for functionalization of PTFE surface is described. The first step employs inductively coupled hydrogen plasma in the H-mode and the second ammonia plasma. The evolution of functional groups upon treatment with ammonia plasma in different modes is presented. The surface is saturated with nitrogen groups within a second if ammonia plasma is sustained in the H-mode at the pressure of 35 Pa and forward power of 200 W. The nitrogen-rich surface film persists for several seconds, while prolonged treatment causes etching. The etching is suppressed but not eliminated using pulsed ammonia plasma at 35 Pa and 200 W. Ammonia plasma in the E-mode at the same pressure, but forward power of 25 W, causes more gradual functionalization and etching was not observed even at prolonged treatments up to 100 s. Detailed investigation of the XPS spectra enabled revealing the surface kinetics for all three cases
KW - polytetrafluoroethylene
KW - plasma treatment
KW - surface functionalization
KW - amination
KW - etching
KW - biocompatibility
KW - Amination
KW - Biocompatibility
KW - Etching
KW - Plasma treatment
KW - Polytetrafluoroethylene
KW - Surface functionalization
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/24/4301
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121031102&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/polym13244301
DO - 10.3390/polym13244301
M3 - Article
SN - 2073-4360
VL - 13
JO - Polymers
JF - Polymers
IS - 24
M1 - 4301
ER -