The degradation rate of electrospun diverse biodegradable polymer membranes changes with surface modification through varying the treatment time using atmospheric-pressure non-thermal plasma

Abstract

Electrospun biodegradable polymer membranes fabricated using polycaprolactone (PCL), polylactic acid (PLA), and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) for guided bone regeneration (GBR) must degrade within an appropriate time frame for clinical use. However, their slow degradation limits practical application. To address this, atmospheric-pressure non-thermal argon plasma was applied as a surface modification strategy to regulate degradation behavior. Membranes were treated for 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 min, and changes were evaluated via attenuated total reflectance fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), wettability, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), degradation rate and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). ATR-FTIR and XPS showed increased oxygen-containing groups. The O/C ratio increased from 0.25 ± 0.05 to 0.39 ± 0.06 for PCL, 0.55 ± 0.02 to 0.63 ± 0.03 for PLA, and 0.63 ± 0.02 to 0.70 ± 0.04 for PLGA (p < 0.05). Surface roughness of only PCL increased from 0.90 ± 0.14 µm to 1.25 ± 0.27 µm (p < 0.05). Water contact angles decreased (p < 0.05), indicating improved hydrophilicity. After 12 weeks in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at 37 ℃, degradation rates increased with plasma treatment time. FE-SEM revealed the fracture patterns in the fibers with plasma treatment time. SEC confirmed decreases in weight average molecular weight (Mw), number average molecular weight (Mn), and dispersity. These results demonstrate that plasma treatment enables time-dependent control of degradation rate in electrospun biodegradable polymer membranes, supporting its feasibility for GBR applications.