Effects of nozzle type atmospheric dry air plasma on L929 fibroblast cells hybrid poly (ε-caprolactone)/chitosan/poly (ε-caprolactone) scaffolds interactions

In the study presented here, in order to improve the surface functionality and topography of poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL)/chitosan/PCL hybrid tissue scaffolds fabricated layer by layer with electrospinning technique, an atmospheric pressure nozzle type plasma surface modification was utilized. The optimization of the plasma process parameters was carried out by monitoring the changes in surface hydrophilicity by using contact angle measurements. SEM, AFM and XPS analyses were utilized to observe the changes in topographical and chemical properties of the modified surfaces. The results showed that applied plasma modification altered the nanotopography and the functionality of the surfaces of the scaffolds. The modification applied for 9 min from a distance of 17 cm was found to provide the possible contact angle value (75.163 ± 0.083) closest to the target value which is the value of tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) petri dishes (∼49.7°), compared to the unmodified samples (84.46 ± 3.86). In vitro cell culture was carried out by L929 mouse fibroblast cell line in order to examine the effects of plasma surface modification on cell–material interactions. Standard MTT assay showed improved cell viability on/within modified scaffolds confirmed with the observations of the cell attachment and the morphology by means of SEM, fluorescence and confocal imaging. The experiments performed in the study proved the enhanced biocompatibility of the nozzle type dry air plasma modified scaffolds.