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 (M_w), number average molecular weight (M_n), 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.