Arup Jyoti Choudhury

Penicillin impregnation on oxygen plasma surface functionalized chitosan/Antheraea assama silk fibroin: Studies of antibacterial activity and antithrombogenic property

Low temperature plasma can effectively tailor the surface properties of natural polymeric biomaterials according to the need for various biomedical applications. Non-mulberry silk, Antheraea assama silk fibroin (AASF) is a natural polymer having excellent biocompatibility and mechanical strength yet unlike mulberry silk, Bombyx mori silk fibroin, has drawn less interest in biomedical research. In the quest for developing as potential biomaterial, surface functionalization of plasma induced chitosan (Cs) grafted AASF ((AASF/O2-CS)g/O2) yarn is carried out using oxygen (O2) plasma. The (AASF/O2-CS)g/O2 yarn exhibits enhanced antithrombogenic property as well as antimicrobial activity against Gram positive (Bacillus subtilis) and Gram negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria as compared to AASF yarn. Moreover, impregnation of antibiotic drug (penicillin G sodium salt, PEN) on (AASF/O2-CS)g/O2 yarn further improves the observed properties. In-vitro hemolysis assay reveals that O2 plasma treatment and subsequent impregnation of PEN do not affect the hemocompatibility of AASF yarn. The present research findings demonstrate that plasma induced grafting of Cs followed by penicillin impregnation could significantly improve the potential applicability of AASF in the field of surgical research.

Development of advanced antimicrobial and sterilized plasma polypropylene grafted muga (Antheraea assama) silk as suture biomaterial.

Surface modification of silk fibroin (SF) materials using environmentally friendly and non-hazardous process to tailor them for specific application as biomaterials has drawn a great deal of interest in the field of biomedical research. To further explore this area of research, in this report, polypropylene (PP) grafted muga (Antheraea assama) SF (PP-AASF) suture is developed using plasma treatment and plasma graft polymerization process. For this purpose, AASF is first sterilized in argon (Ar) plasma treatment followed by grafting PP onto its surface. AASF is a non-mulberry variety having superior qualities to mulberry SF and is still unexplored in the context of suture biomaterial. AASF, Ar plasma treated AASF (AASFAr) and PP-AASF are subjected to various characterization techniques for better comparison and the results are attempted to correlate with their observed properties. Excellent mechanical strength, hydrophobicity, antibacterial behavior, and remarkable wound healing activity of PP-AASF over AASF and AASFAr make it a promising candidate for application as sterilized suture biomaterial.

Radio-frequency Ar plasma treatment on muga silk fiber: correlation between physicochemical and surface morphology

Radio-frequency (RF) Ar plasma treatment is carried out on natural muga silk fibers in a capacitively coupled plasma reactor. The physical and thermal properties of the muga fibers are investigated at an RF power of 20 W and in the treatment time range of 5 to 20 min. The virgin and plasma-treated muga fibers are characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The effect of Ar plasma treatment can be observed only on the outermost layer of the muga fibers without any significant variation in their bulk and thermal properties, as supported by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. Improvement in tensile strength and hydrophobicity of the plasma-treated muga fibers is observed at lower treatment time and RF power. Attempts are made to correlate the properties of the plasma-treated muga fibers with their surface chemistry and surface morphologies.

Surface modification of electrospun PVA/chitosan nanofibers by dielectric barrier discharge plasma at atmospheric pressure and studies of their mechanical properties and biocompatibility

In this paper, surface of electrospun PVA/Cs nanofibers is modified using dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma and the relationship between the observed mechanical properties and biocompatibility of the nanofibers and plasma-induced surface properties is discussed. Plasma treatment of electrospun PVA/Cs nanofibers is carried out with both inert (argon, Ar) and reactive (oxygen, O2) gases at atmospheric pressure. Incorporation of oxygen-containing polar functional groups on the surface of Ar-plasma treated (PVA/Cs/Ar) and O2-plasma treated (PVA/Cs/O2) nanofibers and increase in surface roughness contribute to the improvement of surface wettability and the decrease of contact angle with water of the nanofibers. Both PVA/Cs/Ar and PVA/Cs/O2 nanofibers show high tensile strength (11.6-15.6%) and Youngs modulus (33.8-37.3%) as compared to the untreated one. Experimental results show that in terms of haemolytic activity the PVA/Cs/Ar and PVA/Cs/O2 nanofibers do not cause structural changes of blood cells and meet the biocompatibility requirements for blood-contacting polymeric materials. MTT cell viability results further reveals improvement in biocompatibility of PVA/Cs nanofibers after Ar and O2 plasma treatment. The results suggest that DBD plasma treated electrospun PVA/Cs nanofibers have the potential to be used as wound dressing and scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Synthesis and characterization of plasma polymerized styrene films by rf discharge

The deposition of polystyrene films by capacitively coupled rf plasma on bell metal was investigated. Argon/styrene gas mixture was used for coating in the pressure range (7-16) × 10-2 mbar at different rf powers (40-150 Watt). The structure and composition of these polystyrene films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The deposition condition of these films was optimized for good adhesive and corrosion resistance behaviours. The results showed the possible application of polystyrene films as corrosion resistance coating on bell metal.

MODIFICATION OF SURFACE PROPERTIES OF BELL METAL BY RADIOFREQUENCY PLASMA POLYMERIZATION

Radiofrequency (RF) plasma polymerization is a convenient thin film deposition process as it facilitates the synthesis of polymer films with stable physico-chemical properties suitable for various applications in microelectronic, optical, and biomedical fields. The unique properties of these plasma polymerized films as compared to the conventional ones are strongly related to the proper adjustment of the external plasma discharge parameters and selection of suitable monomer. It is also important to study the fundamental chemistry of RF plasma polymerization process, so that one can successfully correlate the internal features of the discharge with the film properties and explore their possible technological applications. The possibility of using styrene-based plasma polymer (SPP) films on bell metal as protective coatings is explored in this work. Depositions of the films are carried out in RF Ar/styrene discharge at working pressure of 1.2 × 10−1 mbar and at the RF power range of 20 to 110 W. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) is used to study the active species generated during plasma polymerization, while Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are used to analyze the internal chemical structures of the films. The protective performances of the SPP films are attempted to correlate with the results obtained from OES, FT-IR, and XPS analyses.