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Ultra-clean surface treatment: How plasma can change the future of biomedical devices?
With the continuous advancement of science and technology, plasma cleaning technology has gradually become a new era choice for surface treatment of biomedical equipment. This technology significantly improves the cleanliness of related equipment by removing surface impurities and contaminants. The core of plasma cleaning is to use high-frequency voltage to activate gas to produce extremely high-energy plasma, which can effectively decompose and remove organic pollutants on the surface.
The activated species of the plasma, including atoms, molecules, ions, free radicals, mitaphases, and photons in the short-wave ultraviolet range, react with any surface placed into the plasma.
The cleaning technology is based on the ability of plasma to release photons upon contact with a surface, creating a characteristic 'glow'. Plasma produced by different gases will appear in different colors. For example, the glow produced by oxygen plasma is light blue. Plasma using oxygen is extremely effective and environmentally friendly, effectively breaking down the chemical bonds of organic contaminants to clean surfaces.
In this process, oxygen species (such as O2+, O2-) are formed. , O3, etc.) will combine with organic pollutants to produce water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and low molecular weight carbon Hydrogen compounds, these final decomposition products are exhausted outside during the process, leaving behind an ultra-clean surface.
If the material to be processed is susceptible to oxidation, such as silver or copper, it is usually treated with argon or helium.
Plasma cleaning is not only a physical cleaning process, but also introduces highly chemically reactive gases from a materials science perspective. This makes a significant contribution to improving the cleaning effect. Currently, this technology has been applied to the cleaning, disinfection and material modification of biomedical equipment, greatly improving the functions and performance of many devices.
Application Scope
Cleaning and Disinfection
Plasma cleaning not only chemically removes organic contaminants, but also physically removes hydrocarbons from the surface. By interacting with chemically reactive gases (such as oxygen and air), plasma cleaning can quickly convert excess contaminants into harmless gases, ensuring that the surface reaches an ideal clean state.
These applications include removal of self-assembled monolayers from gold surfaces, residual proteins on medical devices, and cleaning of nanoelectrodes.
Life Sciences
In the field of life sciences, cell survival, function and proliferation all depend on their adhesion to the microenvironment. Plasma cleaning technology can add biologically relevant functional groups (such as carbonyl, carboxyl and amine groups) to the surface of materials without the use of chemicals, significantly improving the biocompatibility and bioactivity of the materials.
Plasma cleaning has shown broad potential in applications such as cell culture, tissue engineering, and implants.
Material Science
In materials science, surface wettability and modification are considered as one of the key methods to improve material properties. Plasma cleaning can change the surface chemistry of materials by introducing polar functional groups, thereby improving adhesion to water-based coatings, adhesives, inks and epoxies.
Specific applications include improving the thermal power of graphene films and the work function of polymer semiconductor heterostructures.
Microfluidics
Plasma cleaning technology is also used in microfluidic devices, which can be used in a wide range of research applications. Due to the rapid development and adjustable properties of PDMS material, plasma cleaning can ensure permanent bonding of PDMS microfluidic chips to glass slides or other PDMS layers, forming leak-free microchannels.
Applications of this technology include plasma separation, single-cell RNA sequencing, and long-term hydration retention in microfluidic devices.
Solar cells and photovoltaic technology
Plasmonics can also enhance the performance of solar cells and photovoltaic devices. For example, by reducing molybdenum oxide (MoO3), the short-circuit current density can be significantly increased, while the hydrogen production ability of titanium dioxide nanosheets can be improved, and the conductivity of PEDOT:PSS can be enhanced to achieve more efficient ITO-free perovskite solar cells.
Plasma cleaning technology is gaining more and more attention in today’s biomedical equipment production. With its in-depth exploration in various fields, more innovative applications may emerge in the future. Will this technology grow to become an integral part of biomedical devices?
