More than 100K deaths and 1.7 Million infections per year are reported due to the low biocompatibility of biomaterials only in the USA.  Surface modification techniques including chemical and plasma treatments, ion implantation and ultraviolet irradiation are used to increase the degree of biocompatibility, however associated with undesirable effects. Extreme ultraviolet radiation extends energies from 10 eV to 124 eV (corresponding to wavelengths of 124 nm to 10 nm respectively). The wavelengths in this range make possible to write nano- and micro-patterns. A single EUV photon is able to break several bonds on organic polymer surfaces as it has energy way above the binding energies of C–C (3.6 eV), C–N (3.2 eV), and C–O (3.7 eV) and C-F (5.0 eV) bonds. In this presentation, surface modification of various polymers by the use of a laser-plasma EUV source based on a double-stream gas-puff target, irradiated with 3 ns/0.8J Nd:YAG laser pulse at 10Hz is demonstrated. The physical and chemical properties of EUV modified surfaces are characterized by SEM, AFM, XPS, and water contact angle (WCA) measurement. Pronounced wall type nano- and micro-structures, nitrogen deposition (1.1 atomic %), increased hydrophobicity (+20 degree change in WCA), and increased surface roughness up to many folds observed in the EUV modified surfaces. In-vitro cell culture studies, using L929 mouse fibroblasts demonstrated strong cell adhesion and increased cell viability in EUV modified polymer surfaces. EUV surface modification can be successfully employed for biocompatibility control in polymeric biomaterials with no undesirable effects known to-date.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from the EU FP7 Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate Program EXTATIC under framework partnership agreement FPA-2012-0033. With support from the 7th Framework Programme's Laserlab Europe project (No. 284464).

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