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. 2020 Jan 29;25(3):582.
doi: 10.3390/molecules25030582.

Induced Hydrophilicity and In Vitro Preliminary Osteoblast Response of Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Coatings Obtained via MAPLE Deposition and Subsequent Thermal Treatment

Luminita Nicoleta Dumitrescu  1   2 , Patricia Neacsu  3 , Madalina G Necula  3 , Anca Bonciu  1   2 , Valentina Marascu  1 , Anisoara Cimpean  3 , Antoniu Moldovan  1 , Andrei Rotaru  1   4   5 , Valentina Dinca  1 , Maria Dinescu  1
Affiliations

Induced Hydrophilicity and In Vitro Preliminary Osteoblast Response of Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Coatings Obtained via MAPLE Deposition and Subsequent Thermal Treatment

Luminita Nicoleta Dumitrescu et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Recent advancements in biomedicine have focused on designing novel and stable interfaces that can drive a specific cellular response toward the requirements of medical devices or implants. Among these, in recent years, electroactive polymers (i.e., polyvinylidene fluoride or PVDF) have caught the attention within the biomedical applications sector, due to their insolubility, stability in biological media, in vitro and in vivo non-toxicity, or even piezoelectric properties. However, the main disadvantage of PVDF-based bio-interfaces is related to the absence of the functional groups on the fluoropolymer and their hydrophobic character leading to a deficiency of cell adhesion and proliferation. This work was aimed at obtaining hydrophilic functional PVDF polymer coatings by using, for the first time, the one-step, matrix-assisted pulsed evaporation (MAPLE) method, testing the need of a post-deposition thermal treatment and analyzing their preliminary capacity to support MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast cell survival. As osteoblast cells are known to prefer rough surfaces, MAPLE deposition parameters were studied for obtaining coatings with roughness of tens to hundreds of nm, while maintaining the chemical properties similar to those of the pristine material. The in vitro studies indicated that all surfaces supported the survival of viable osteoblasts with active metabolisms, similar to the "control" sample, with no major differences regarding the thermally treated materials; this eliminates the need to use a secondary step for obtaining hydrophilic PVDF coatings. The physical-chemical characteristics of the thin films, along with the in vitro analyses, suggest that MAPLE is an adequate technique for fabricating PVDF thin films for further bio-applications.

Keywords: MAPLE; PVDF; coatings; induced-hydrophilicity; polymeric biointerface; thermal treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
FTIR attenuated total reflectance (ATR) and FTIR spectra of PVDF coatings deposited by matrix-assisted pulsed evaporation (MAPLE) and of the coatings subjected to the thermal treatment (MAPLE TT). The spectrum of the PVDF initial material are marked as a continuous black line, while the other continuous lines stand for the PVDF coatings transferred by MAPLE and the dotted lines stand for the PVDF coatings transferred by MAPLE and those that were thermally-treated (MAPLE TT).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) spectrum of PVDF thin film deposited by MAPLE at the highest laser fluence (1.5 J/cm2; see Figure 3e). (b) Graphic representation of the comparison of the C/F ratio in the PVDF coatings deposited by MAPLE and MAPLE TT at various laser fluences: 1.0, 1.3, and 1.5 J/cm2.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) surface morphology images of PVDF thin films (20 × 20 μm2). Comparison between PVDF bulk, with (a) drop-cast; (b) drop-cast-TT, and the MAPLE-deposited samples at different fluences: (c) 1.0 J/cm2, (e) 1.3 J/cm2, (g) 1.5 J/cm2. In addition, the thermally-treated variant of the MAPLE-deposited films at (d) 1.0 J/cm2 + TT, (f) 1.3 J/cm2 + TT, and (h) 1.5 J/cm2 + TT.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The roughness of the PVDF bulk: drop-cast and drop-cast TT, with thin films obtained by MAPLE deposition and subsequently thermally treated with different laser fluences of 1.0 J/cm2, 1.3 J/cm2, and 1.5 J/cm2 (from the AFM measurements on areas of 20 × 20 μm2 like in Figure 3).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Contact angle comparison of PVDF bulk: drop-cast and drop-cast-TT with PVDF-MAPLE and PVDF-MAPLE TT at different laser fluences (1.0, 1.3, and 1.5 J/cm2).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Immunofluorescence staining of vinculin (red) in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts after 2 h (a) and 24 h (b) of culture onto different MAPLE and MAPLE TT-deposited PVDF materials. The controls were obtained on glass samples.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Cell viability of MC3T3-E1 cells assessed by MTT assay after 24 h of culture onto different MAPLE and MAPLE TT-deposited PVDF materials. Results are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD) (n = 3).
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