Oxygen plasma modification of polyurethane membranes

Polyurethane membranes were prepared under nitrogen atmosphere by using various proportions of toluene diisocyanates (TDI) and polypropylene-ethylene glycol (P) with addition of no other ingredients such as catalysts, initiator or solvent in order to achieve medical purity. Effects of composition on mechanical properties were examined. In general, modulus and UTS values demonstrated an increase and PSBR demonstrated a decrease as the TDI/Polyol ratio of the polymer increased. Elastic modulus, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and per cent strain before rupture (PSBR) values were found to be in the range of 1.4-5.4 MPa, 0.9-1.9 MPa, and 60.4-99.7%, respectively. Surfaces of the membranes were modified by oxygen plasma applying glow-discharge technique and the effect of applied plasma power (10 W or 100 W, 15 min) on surface hydrophilicity and on the attachment of Vero cells were studied. Water contact angle values of the plasma modified surfaces varied between 67 and 46, demonstrating a decrease as the applied plasma power was increased. The unmodified material had 42-45 cells attached per cm(2). It was observed that as the applied power increased the number of attached cells first increased (60-70 cells/cm(2) at 10W) and then decreased (27-40 cells/cm(2) at 100 W). These demonstrated that surface properties of polyurethanes can be modified by plasma-glow discharge technique to achieve the optimum levels of cell attachment. (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.