ABSTRACT
CRISTINA SA TRIANO, 1 GIOVANNI MARLETT A, I,* SALVATORE GUGLIELMIN02 and SANTINA CARNAZZA2 1Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Universita degli Studi di Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy 2Dipartimento di Scienze Microbiologiche, Genetiche e Molecolari, Universita di Messina, Sa/ita Sperone, 31, Viii. S. Agata, Messina 98166, Italy
Abstract-Low-energy ion beams and cold plasma treatments have been used to obtain chemically different altered layers at the surfaces ofpoly(hydroxymethylsiloxane) and poly( ethylene terephthalate) films, in order to modify their biocompatibility. The cell response, in terms of the number and viability of Normal Human Dermal Fibroblast cells, has been studied for the various surfaces. The different cell-substrate interactions are interpreted in terms of the complex interplay between the chemical structure of the surfaces, the related surface free energy and the cell response. The overall results point towards a critical role of the total surface free energy of the surfaces, which seems to trigger a good cell adhesion above a threshold of about 40 mJ/m2.
