Deposition of Cell Culture Coatings Using a Cold Plasma Deposition Method

Collagen coatings were applied onto polystyrene microplates using a cold atmospheric pressure plasma process. The coatings were compared to standard wet chemical collagen thin films using microscopy, surface energy, infra-red spectroscopy, electrophoresis, and cell culture techniques. Thin films were also deposited on gold electrodes using both coating methods and their structural and barrier properties probed using cyclic voltammetry. While the wet chemical technique produced a thicker deposit, both films appear equivalent in terms of coverage, porosity, structure, and chemistry. Significantly, the cold plasma method preserves both the primary and secondary structure of the protein and this results in high biocompatibility and cell activity that is at least equivalent to the standard wet chemical technique. The significance of these results is discussed in relation to the benefits of a single step plasma coating in comparison to the traditional multi-step aseptic coating technique.