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Poly( L ‐lactide) Substrates with Tailored Surface Chemistry by Plasma Copolymerisation of Acrylic Monomers
Author(s) -
García Cristina González,
Ferrus Llorenç Latorre,
Moratal David,
Pradas Manuel Monleón,
Sánchez Manuel Salmerón
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
plasma processes and polymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1612-8869
pISSN - 1612-8850
DOI - 10.1002/ppap.200800112
Subject(s) - wetting , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , nanoindentation , monomer , polymer chemistry , materials science , chemical engineering , contact angle , plasma , surface modification , polymer , composite material , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
The wettability of PLLA substrates was modified by plasma copolymerising on its surface thin films based on EA and HEA. The composition of the reactive gas inside the plasma chamber was that of the corresponding liquid mixture of the comonomers. The surface of the substrates was investigated by AFM, which showed that the plasma film was ≈100 nm thick. The WCA decreases monotonically with decreasing HEA content in the mixture. The fraction of hydroxyl groups has been calculated from XPS. The local mechanical properties of the plasma‐polymerised surfaces were estimated by nanoindentation experiments performed using the AFM tip, which turns out to be a method sensitive to the composition of the copolymerised plasma film on the PLLA surface.