Investigation of the Impact of Cold Plasma Treatment on the Wettability of Medical Grade Polyvinylchloride

TL;DR

This study examines how different plasma treatments affect the wettability of medical-grade PVC, finding corona plasma most effectively increases hydrophilicity and exploring the surface chemistry and hydrophobic recovery over time.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of plasma types on PVC wettability and investigates the kinetics and chemical changes during hydrophobic recovery.

Findings

Corona plasma most effectively increases PVC hydrophilicity

Hydrophobic recovery follows an exponential time course

Surface oxidation is irreversible and not directly linked to recovery

Abstract

The impact of the Corona, dielectric barrier discharge and low pressure radiofrequency air plasmas on the wettability of the 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 PVC tubing is reported. The kinetics of hydrophobic recovery following the 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 is hardly correlated with oxidation of the polymer surface, which is irreversible.