Permanent Plasma Surface Functionalization of Internal Surface Areas
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Date
2025-04-01
Authors
Hegemann, Dirk
Janůšová, Martina
Navascues, Paula
Zajíčková, Lenka
Guex, Anne Géraldine
ORCID
0000-0002-6906-8906Advisor
Referee
Mark
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
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Abstract
Surface functionalization technologies of fibrous or porous materials are often considered relatively unstable with a shelf life of several weeks or months at most, evoked by heterogeneous treatment of their internal surface areas. Here, it is demonstrating that the fine balance of plasma etching, deposition, and oxidation involving different reactive species, strongly enhances penetration depth within complex structures. On this basis, capillary wicking is maintained over >10 years after plasma functionalization of a scaffold material used for biomedical engineering. Electrospun membranes of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) are coated with an oxygen-functional hydrocarbon layer, deposited in a competitive ablation and plasma polymerization process with CO2 and C2H4 as reactive gases. Chemical analysis immediately after coating, 9 months later, and after storing at ambient conditions for over 10 years, indicate a stable surface coating. Using defined geometries such as a cavity and an undercut, the underlying plasma interaction mechanisms are revealed, showing different synergies of energetic particles, depositing species with different surface reactivities, and oxidizing species. A concerted action of such species during plasma functionalization is key to enabling long-term wetting properties. This has a major implication for the surface functionalization of scaffolds, textiles, membranes, or foams used in diverse fields.
Description
Citation
Advanced Materials Interfaces. 2025, vol. 12, issue 8, p. 1-10.
https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/admi.202400727
https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/admi.202400727
Document type
Peer-reviewed
Document version
Published version
Date of access to the full text
Language of document
en