Abstract

CO2 laser processing of nylon 6,6 can modify its wettability and biomimetic characteristics. This paper discusses comparatively the use of a CO2 laser for surface patterning and whole area processing, detailing the effects on the wettability and osteoblast cell response. White light interferometry found that the largest increase in surface roughness, with an Sa of 4 μm was obtained with the large area processed sample using an irradiance of 510 Wcm-2. The surface oxygen content was increased by up to 5 %at for all laser irradiated samples. A sessile drop device determined that the laser patterned samples gave rise to an increase in contact angle, whereas a decrease in contact angle was observed for the large area patterned samples in comparison to the as-received nylon 6,6. The increase in contact angle is explained by the likely existence of a mixed-state wetting regime.The bioactive nature of the samples were analysed by seeding osteoblast cells onto the nylon 6,6 samples for 4 days. It was found that most laser surface treated samples gave rise to a more biomimetic surface. Some samples gave a less enhanced biomimetic which can be attributed to an increase in surface toxicity. Also, generic wettability characteristics have been forged which can predict the biomimetic nature of laser surface treated nylon 6,6.