Methods of treating a surface of a polymer material by atmospheric pressure plasma
A method for treating a flexible plastic substrate is provided herein. The method includes establishing an atmospheric pressure plasma beam from an inert gas using a power of greater than about 90W, directing the plasma beam toward a surface of the flexible polymer substrate, and scanning the plasma beam across the surface of the polymer substrate to form a treated substrate surface.
1. A method for treating a flexible polymer substrate used for forming a bioprocess bag, the method comprising:
establishing an atmospheric pressure plasma beam from an inert gas using a power of greater than about 120 W;
directing the plasma beam from a plasma outlet toward a surface of the flexible polymer substrate; and
scanning the plasma beam over at least a portion of the surface of the polymer substrate to form a treated substrate surface,
wherein the inert gas comprises helium, and
wherein the treated polymer substrate surface comprises a total extractable and leachable content of less than about 70% of the total extractable and leachable content of an untreated polymer substrate surface.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein establishing the atmospheric pressure plasma beam comprises using a power of between about 120 W and about 220 W.
3. The method claim 1 , wherein scanning the plasma beam over at least a portion of the surface of the polymer substrate comprises moving the plasma beam over a first portion of the polymer substrate surface and then subsequently moving the plasma beam over a second portion of the polymer substrate surface.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein scanning the plasma beam over at least a portion of the surface of the polymer substrate comprises moving the plasma beam in relation to the polymer substrate.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein scanning the plasma beam over at least a portion of the surface of the polymer substrate comprises moving the polymer substrate in relation to the plasma beam.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein directing the plasma beam toward a surface of the flexible polymer substrate comprises exposing the surface of the flexible polymer substrate to the plasma beam for greater than about 0.5 seconds, between about 0.5 seconds and about 5.0 minutes, between about 1.0 second and about 3.0 minutes, between about 3.0 seconds and about 1.0 minute, or between about 5.0 seconds and about 30 seconds.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the flexible polymer substrate is positioned on a substrate support.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the substrate support is rotatable about a central axis, and wherein scanning the plasma beam over at least a portion of the surface of the polymer substrate comprises rotating the substrate support about the central axis such that the surface of the flexible polymer moves relative to the plasma outlet.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the flexible polymer is positioned on a spool.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the spool is rotatable about a central axis, and wherein scanning the plasma beam over at least a portion of the surface of the polymer substrate comprises rotating the first spool and winding the polymer substrate from the first spool and around a substrate support such that the surface of the flexible polymer moves relative to the plasma outlet.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein establishing an atmospheric pressure plasma beam comprises flowing the inert gas from an inert gas source to an electrode of a plasma generator.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein scanning the plasma beam over at least a portion of the surface of the polymer substrate comprises greater than about 10 scans over the same portion of the surface of the polymer substrate, greater than about 40 scans over the same portion of the surface of the polymer substrate, greater than about 60 scans over the same portion of the surface of the polymer substrate, or greater than about 80 scans over the same portion of the surface of the polymer substrate.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein scanning the plasma beam over at least a portion of the surface of the polymer substrate comprises between about 20 scans and about 90 scans over the same portion of the surface of the polymer substrate.
14. A flexible polymer substrate treated by the method of claim 1 .
15. A bioprocess bag comprising flexible polymer substrate of claim 14 .
16. A bioprocess system configured for culturing cells, the bioprocess system comprising the flexible polymer substrate of claim 14 .