Pulsed vacuum arc deposition of nitrogen-doped diamond-like coatings for long-term hydrophilicity of electrospun polycaprolactone scaffolds

TL;DR

This study demonstrates a novel pulsed vacuum arc deposition method to create nitrogen-doped diamond-like coatings on polycaprolactone scaffolds, significantly prolonging their hydrophilicity for over six months and maintaining biocompatibility.

Contribution

It introduces a new coating technique that extends scaffold hydrophilicity duration beyond 6 months, improving tissue integration potential.

Findings

Hydrophilicity of scaffolds maintained for over 6 months.

Coating composition tunable via nitrogen pressure.

No cytotoxic effects observed in vitro.

Abstract

The surface hydrophobicity of poly($\epsilon$-caprolactone) electrospun scaffolds prevents their interactions with cells and tissue integration. Plasma treatment of the scaffolds enhances their hydrophilicity. However, the hydrophobicity of scaffolds is restored in about 30 days. In this communication, we report the possibility of polycaprolactone electrospun scaffolds hydrophilization for more than 6 months. For that, diamond-like coating was deposited on the scaffolds surface using pulsed vacuum arc deposition technique in nitrogen atmosphere with sputtering of graphite target. It was established that single-side modification preserving scaffold structure is possible. The diamond-like coatings composition (sp2/sp3 hybridized carbon ratio) was tunable with nitrogen pressure. In vitro tests with fibroblasts cell culture did not reveal any cytotoxic compounds in the samples extracts.