Atmospheric Pressure Non-Equilibrium Plasma Treatment to Improve the Electrospinnability of Poly(L-Lactic Acid) Polymeric Solution

This work is focused on the use of non-thermal plasma to improve the electrospinnability of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA). The use of toxic high boiling point solvents is minimized to produce high quality solvent free nanofibrous scaffolds for biomedical applications. PLLA polymeric solutions dissolved in pure dichloromethane are exposed to the plasma plume of a jet developed by some of the authors and driven by high voltage pulses with rise rate of several kV ns1. The effects of peak voltage, pulse repetition frequency, volume of the solution and treatment time on the morphology of electrospun fibers are investigated by means of scanning electron microscope. Electrospinning is performed at different time lapses after the plasma treatment to study the durability of the induced effects.