Homogeneous and Micro-patterned plasma-deposited PEO-like coatings for biomedical surfaces

Mixtures of diethyl glycol dimethyl ether vapors and argon were used to feed RF (13.56 MHz) glowdischarges and coat polystyrene substrates with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-like thin films. Different power input values have been used to obtain coatings with different cell-adhesive properties. Cell-culture experiments showed a tight correlation between the adhesion/morphology of cultured cell-lines and the chemical composition of the coatings; the ability of PEOlike coatings to discourage or promote cell adhesion could thus easily be related to the power delivered to the plasma. Combined deposition processes of different PEO-like coatings have been performed, with the method of physical masking, to produce surfaces micro-patterned with celladhesive tracks alternating with cell-repulsive domains. The micro-arrangement of different cell-adhesive domains enabled the patterning of cell cultures and induced the alignment of cells along predefined directions. The adhesion pattern of 3T3 murine fibroblasts on a substrate of PEO10W patterned with a PEO5W coating deposited through a G50p mask after 24 h.