An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have developed a new plasma-enabled process that could limit the proliferation of toxins from implants into a patient's bloodstream. The team, led by Vinoy Thomas, Ph.D., associate professor in the UAB School of Engineering's Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, recently published findings in the ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces journal.
Graphical abstract. Credit: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c01195 In the article, the authors explain that a major challenge of developing nanoparticle-modified biomedical implant material is to stably attach metallic nanoparticles on different surfaces—particularly polymer surfaces. "For years, scientists have achieved synthesis of metallic nanoparticles in aqueous solutions using both chemical and biological (plant extracts) reducing agents," Thomas said. "The challenge of attaching metallic nanoparticles is especially difficult in cases involving hydrophobic polymeric biomaterials, which most polymeric biomaterials fall under." To address this challenge, Thomas and his team developed a plasma-enabled process called plasma electroless reduction. The PER process allows researchers to deposit gold and silver nanostructures on different 2D and 3D polymer material surfaces, such as cellulose paper, polypropylene-based facemasks and 3D printed polymer scaffolds. "It is well known that there are toxicity issues offered by the rapid and premature release of the metallic…