Improvement of PDMS surface biocompatibility is limited by the duration of oxygen plasma treatment

AbstractThe recent study focused on the improvement of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface biocompatibility as the most commonly used biomaterial in maxillofacial prostheses for intraoral defects. Biocompatibility enhances tissue‐prosthesis integration to prevent implant dislocation; to evaluate the parameter the study conducted at different times of oxygen plasma exposure. Scanning electron microscopy, contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy and above all, cell cultivation—as a crucial factor in biocompatibility—carried out to investigate the samples’ characteristics. An improved PDMS biocompatibility is expected; referring to the fact that an “optimal range”—not necessarily the maximum values—of surface hydrophilicity and roughness could induce an enhanced cell attachment on the PDMS surface, an “optimum time” of O2 plasma exposure is required to meet this goal. Considering the O2 plasma setup items, the ratio of PDMS components and fabrication process in the current survey, 2.5‐min O2 plasma exposure well suited to PDMS surface cell adhesion.