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Photoembossing of surface relief structures in polymer films for biomedical applications
Author(s) -
HughesBrittain Nanayaa F.,
Qiu Lin,
Wang Wen,
Peijs Ton,
Bastiaansen Cees W.M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part b: applied biomaterials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1552-4981
pISSN - 1552-4973
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.b.32997
Subject(s) - materials science , photopolymer , biocompatibility , acrylate , polymer , methyl methacrylate , methacrylate , monomer , adhesion , contact angle , composite material , chemical engineering , engineering , metallurgy
Photoembossing is a technique used to create relief structures using a patterned contact photo‐mask exposure and a thermal development step. Typically, the photopolymer consists of a polymer binder and a monomer in a 1/1 ratio together with a photo‐initiator, which results in a solid and non‐tacky material at room temperature. Here, new mixtures for photoembossing are presented which are potentially biocompatible. Poly(methyl methacrylate) is used as a polymer binder and two different acrylate monomers trimethylolpropane ethoxylate triacrylate (TPETA) and dipentaerythritol penta‐/hexa‐acrylate (DPPHA) are tested. PMMA‐TPETA had a higher surface relief features. Biocompatibility is evaluated by culturing human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) on films of these photopolymer blends. PMMA with TPETA and PMMA‐DPPHA films showed enhanced cell adhesion compared to PMMA. The cells also showed alignment on surface textured films with the highest degree of alignment on films with 20 μm pitch and 2 μm height. This study shows that photoembossing is a feasible method to produce surface textures on films that can be adopted in the field of tissue engineering to promote cell adhesion and alignment. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 102B: 214–220, 2014.