Mechanism of plasma cleaning

Plasma is a partially ionized gas, which is the fourth state of matter other than solid, liquid and gas. Plasma is made up of electrons, ions, free radicals, photons and other neutral particles. Due to the existence of active particles such as electrons, ions and free radicals in plasma, it is easy to react with solid surfaces. It mainly relies on the "activation" of active particles in plasma to achieve the purpose of removing stains on the surface of objects.

Plasma cleaning can improve the surface properties and adhesion of medical instruments.

Improve adhesion of biomedical coatings

For many medical devices, such as catheters, medical stents, intraocular lenses, contact lenses, and metal implants, functional coatings are often used to improve biocompatibility and reduce harmful side effects. However, most of these medical devices have chemically inert surfaces and low surface energy, making it difficult for functional coatings to adhere to the surface. Plasma treatment can increase the surface energy, produce chemical active functional groups and improve the interface adhesion. Plasma treatment is a safer and more environmentally friendly process than wet treatment.

Before plasma cleaning

After plasma cleaning

From the water drop test, it can be clearly seen that the surface properties of the nail adhesion improved significantly.

Improve biocompatibility

Implantable biomaterials, such as metals, polymers and silica gel, can be treated with plasma to improve protein adsorption and cell adhesion. Plasma treatment can selectively modify the chemical and physical characteristics of the surface without affecting the characteristics of the device body. For example, plasma surface treatment of biopolymers can introduce functional groups without changing the surface roughness of polymers, causing grafting polymerization, improving the adhesion of coatings, and forming molecular crosslinking. Plasma treatment of titanium devices can realize surface cleaning and disinfection, which provides a good starting point for the subsequent plasma polymerization. Plasma-treated titanium surfaces can greatly improve cell attachment.