Amino and carboxyl plasma functionalization of collagen films for tissue engineering applications

Type I collagen films have been functionalized on their surfaces by plasma treatment with carboxyl and amino groups to improve their potential for grafting bioactive molecules. The physico-chemical properties of the plasma-treated films were evaluated and compared to the untreated materials by water contact angle, SEM and AFM. The presence of new functional groups on the film surfaces has been assessed by ATR-FTIR spectra after chemical derivatization. Moreover, the biocompatibility of the plasma-treated films was studied with MG-63 human osteoblast-like cells, evaluating cell proliferation, viability and morphology at 1, 3 and 7 days.