from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
Polyethylene (PE) is a synthetic polymer used for biomedical applications and tissue engineering. Surface modification of this material relates to changes of its surface hydrophilicity, chemistry, morphology, microstructure, roughness, and topography, all influencing its biological response. This our research was focused on modification of PE by argon plasma discharge and then grafting with biologically active polyethylene glycol (PEG) with the aim to enhance its cytocompatibility of the cell lines L929 of mouse fibroblast. The surface properties of pristine PE and its grafted counterparts were studied by different experimental techniques: X-ray spectroscopy, goniometry, Atomic Force Microscopy and electrokinetic analysis (zeta potential). Our results show that grafting of PEG leads to higher wettability, surface roughness, and thus the adhesion and proliferation of cultured cells.
Keywords: Polyethylene, plasma treatment, polyethylene glycols grafting, surface properties, cell growth© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.