Polymers
Plasma cleaning is an essential technique used to modify and enhance the surface properties of polymers, making them more suitable for various applications. Plasma removes organic contamination, alters surface energy, and introduces functional groups that improve adhesion and interaction with other materials. Plasma cleaning is widely used for treating different types of polymers, including PDMS, polystyrene, PET, PCL, and PMMA, each with unique benefits and applications.
Learn more about how plasma treatment is used for your specific application in the following application notes:
Organoids
Organoids are self-organizing, three-dimensional structures derived from stem cells that recapitulate native organ architecture with remarkable fidelity. Since the first intestinal organoids were generated from adult Lgr5+ stem cells embedded in...
Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers (GFRP)
Harrick Plasma Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers (GFRP) are widely used in high-performance applications such as wind turbine blades, aerospace components, and automotive structures due to their high strength-to-weight ratio and tunable mechanical properties. However,...
Cyclic Olefin Polymer (COP) Microfluidics
Cyclic olefin polymers (COP) and copolymers (COC) have emerged as leading materials for advanced microfluidic and bioanalytical devices. Their popularity is driven by a unique combination of properties, including excellent optical transparency, low...
PMMA Microfluidics
Plasma cleaning and activation are the near-universal first step for working with PMMA in microfluidics. Exposing PMMA to oxygen or air plasma breaks surface polymer chains and grafts oxygen-containing groups such as hydroxyl and carboxyl onto the...
Silicone
Silicone elastomers are widely used in medical devices and soft robotic systems because of their flexibility, chemical stability, and ease of fabrication. Examples include breast implants, urinary catheters, neural shunts, pacemaker leads, tubing,...
Hydrogels
Hydrogels are hydrophilic, polymerized networks with high biocompatibility. Hydrogels trap water and other fluids, making them ideal for drug delivery, cell seeding, and tissue engineering applications. Hydrogel fabrication relies on plasma...
3D Printing
3D printing is ubiquitous in modern professional and academic laboratories, where researchers continue to find innovative applications. Its essential function is to rapidly provide complex 3D structures with high precision. The technology is now...
Cell Adhesion
Cell adhesion plays an integral role in cell culture and tissue engineering. In the native environment, cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) bind to the extracellular matrix and neighboring cells to provide structural support and chemical cues vital for...
Tissue Culture Plastic (Polystyrene)
Inexpensive, disposable and transparent, plasma treated polystyrene, or tissue culture plastic (TCP), is the most extensively used cell culture material, not only because of its aforementioned qualities but because of its biological affinity....
Plasma Lithography
One common and easily employed method for surface micropatterning is plasma lithography, in which a deformable mask is placed in contact with a substrate surface before plasma treatment to create a chemical template for subsequent processing steps....