Coatings Flashcards
Name 3 methods to attach a very thin (1 molecule thick) layer to a surface.
- Radiation grafting/photografting
- Surface patterning
- Monolayer structures
What ca plasma etching achieve
- Clean
- Sterilise
- Cross link surface polymers
- Activate a previously unactive surface
What is the use of plasma etching/plasma deposition?
Form barrier films Protective coating Electrically insulating coatings Reduce absorption from environment • Inhibit release of leachables Control drug delivery rate
How does plasma etching/deposition modify cell and protein reactions?
- Improve biocompatiility
- Promote selective protein absorption
- Enhance cell adhesion and growth
- Produce non-fouling surface
- Reduce friction
What are the specific requirements for plasma processing polymers?
- Plasma must be of low energy and low temperature (e.g. 200 W, room temperature, 60 s).
- Typical conditions in the plasma chamber: 25-60 °C, operating pressure 0.025-1.0 Torr
What does Plasma etching achieve?
Plasma treatment functionalises surface by removing atoms from surface layer, creating reaction and anchorage sites
-combined with-
Reactive small molecules in the gas phase combine to form higher molecular weight units or particulates that may settle or precipitate onto surface.
What is the mechanism of plasma etching?
Removal of atoms and precipitation onto surface
What are the three main methods of grafting?
Using ionising radiation; cobalt-60 source
Using UV radiation
Using high energy electron beams
What is the mechanism of radiation grafting?
- Radiation breaks chemical bonds to give free radicals
- Reactive species on surface are exposed to a monomer
- Monomer reacts with the free radicals at the surface and propagates as a free radical chain reaction incorporating other monomers into a surface grafted polymer
What are the Grafting routes?
• Substrate immersed in monomer solution and then irradiated
• Substrate irradiated under inert atmosphere or low temperatures and then exposed to monomer solution
• Substrate irradiated in oxygen or air
Peroxide groups are formed on surface
Surface is heated then exposed to redox reactant such as Fe2+
Causes decomposition of the peroxide groups to form free radicals that initiate graft polymerisation
Immobilisation of molecules using plasmas
- Plasmas - introduce organic functional groups to the surface of a polymer
- These functional groups (amine, hydroxl etc) can then attach biomolecules to the surface
- Surfactants can also be immobilised to the surface
Name the two methods used to pattern a surface with functional groups, proteins or peptide sequences.
Micro-contact printing
To fabricate PDMS stamps with relief features, the precursor is mixed with a curing agent, poured onto a template, and cured to crosslink the polymer.
• Patterns with features down to 50 nm have been reproduced using microprinting with PDMS stamps.
Flow channels
Why is PDMS a good material for micro-printing?
Low surface energy, due to flexibility of siloxane chain and low intermolecular forces between methyl groups
• Easily separated from the template during fabrication
• Binds reversibly to substance to be transferred during printing
• Facilitates peeling of stamp from substrate after printing (without smearing)
• Surface energy can be lowered further by binding fluorinated silanes to it • Relatively inert
• Does not react with many chemicals
• Does swell in organic solvents, limiting its use in those solvents
What are the challenges of micro-printing?
- Protein molecules undergo conformational changes during inking step to adsorb onto the PDMS surface
- For efficient micro patterning to occur the receiving surface needs to have properties that make it more favourable for the protein to transfer than to remain on the stamp.
What are Self assembled monolayers?
Surface coating films that form spontaneously as highly ordered structures(2-D crystals) on specific substrates
Examples include:
• n-alkyl silanes on hydroxylated surfaces such as glass, silica, alumina
• alkane thiols such as CH3(CH2)nSH and di-thiols on some metals e.g. Au, Ag, Cu • Amines and alcohols on platinum
• Carboxylic acids on aluminium oxide