Development of a cold atmospheric pressure microplasma jet for freeform cell printing

Abstract

An atmospheric pressure non-thermal microplasma jet ( 50 m) was developed for localized functionalization of various substrates, including polymers, to allow maskless freeform cell printing. The applied microplasma jet power ranged from 0.1 to 0.2 W without causing any damage to the polyethylene substrate. The surface characterization results demonstrate that the microplasma treatment locally changes the surface roughness and the concentration of oxygen-containing functional groups on the polyethylene surface. The biological characterization confirms that the osteoblast cells attach and survive on the plasma activated line while untreated surfaces show almost no attachment and viability. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.