Investigation of the impact of cold plasma treatment on the chemical composition and wettability of medical grade polyvinylchloride

Edward Bormashenko, Irina Legchenkova, Shiri Navon-Venezia, Mark Frenkel, Yelena Bormashenko

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The impact of the Corona, dielectric barrier discharge, and low pressure radiofrequency air plasmas on the chemical composition and wettability of medical grade polyvinylchloride was investigated. Corona plasma treatment exerted the most pronounced increase in the hydrophilization of polyvinylchloride. The specific energy of adhesion of the pristine and plasma-treated Polyvinylchloride (PVC) tubing is reported. Plasma treatment increased markedly the specific free surface energy of PVC. The kinetics of hydrophobic recovery following plasma treatment was explored. The time evolution of the apparent contact angle under the hydrophobic recovery is satisfactorily described by the exponential fitting. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of the chemical composition of the near-surface layers of the plasma-treated catheters revealed their oxidation. The effect of the hydrophobic recovery hardly correlated with oxidation of the polymer surface, which is irreversible and it is reasonably attributed to the bulk mobility of polymer chains.

Original languageEnglish
Article number300
Pages (from-to)1-13
Number of pages13
JournalApplied Sciences (Switzerland)
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2021

Keywords

  • Apparent contact angle
  • Cold plasma
  • Contact angle hysteresis
  • Hydrophilization
  • Hydrophobic recovery
  • Polyvinylchloride
  • Wettability

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Engineering
  • Instrumentation
  • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
  • Process Chemistry and Technology
  • General Materials Science
  • Computer Science Applications

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