Exploring the polymerization of bioactive nano-cones on the inner surface of an organic tube by an atmospheric pressure pulsed micro-plasma jet

The inner surface of micro-PVC tube was modified by APPJ and AA monomer, and a higher density of cell was attached on the treated tube surface. •The PAA film was deposited on the inner surface of PVC tube by DC APPJs.•The average height of the PAA nano-cones ranged from 150 to 200nm.•Hydrophilicity of the modified PVC tube with PAA nano-cones was improved greatly.•The modified PVC showed an enhancement of cell attachment. In this paper, the successful deposition of acrylic acid polymer (PAA) nano-cones on the inner surface of a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tube using an atmospheric pressure pulsed plasma jet (APPJ) with acrylic acid (AA) monomer is presented. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) measurements indicated that various reactive radicals, such as OH and O, existed in the plasma jet. Moreover, the pulsed current proportionally increased with the increase in the applied voltage. The strengthened stretching vibration of the carbonyl group (CO) at 1700cm−1, shown in the ATR-FTIR spectra, clearly indicated that the PAA was deposited on the PVC surface. The maximum height of the PAA nano-cones deposited by this method ranged from 150 to 200nm. FTIR and XPS results confirmed the enhanced exposure of the carboxyl groups on the modified PVC surface, which was considered highly beneficial for successfully immobilizing a high density of biomolecules. The XPS data showed that the carbon ratios of the COH/R and COOH/R groups increased from 7.03% and 2.6% to 18.69% and 6.81%, respectively (more than doubled) when an Ar/O2 plasma with AA monomer was applied to treat the inner surface of the PVC tube. Moreover, the enhanced attachment density of MC3T3-E1 bone cells was observed on the PVC inner surface coated with PAA nano-cones.