Activation of PCL Surface by Ion Beam Treatment to Enhance Protein Adsorption

Polymer substrates with tailored surface properties are increasingly desired in tissue engineering studies. In this work a procedure was developed to improve the use of a polycaprolactone (PCL) films for these applications. Ion beam treatments of PCL films activated the surface by different modification mechanisms. The PCL activation conditions were studied using several techniques to evaluate the modifications of the films surface. The results obtained from FTIR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy indicated that a gradual modification of the composition and microstructure of the films was induced by the process. The modified surfaces induced shifts in Zeta potential vs pH curves and increased the polar component of the surface free energy. The protein adsorption characteristics of the PCL films were monitored by microgravimetric techniques confirming that the ion beam treatment was able to trigger bovine serum albumin adsorption onto the treated PCL surface.