Covalent immobilization of bioactive poly(amidoamine)s onto plasma-functionalized PLGA surfaces

An approach to the surface modification of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) to render it adhesive to poly(amidoamine) (PAA) hydrogels, thus allowing fabrication of entirely biodegradable and biomimetic multilayered composite biomaterials with the PLGA film playing the role of reinforcing material, for instance imparting resistance to stitching, is N2/H2 plasma treatment of PLGA surfaces aimed at introducing amine groups and covalently immobilizing PAAs. Grafting of linear PAAs, demonstrated by XPS analysis, is reported first. Coherent PAA/PLGA composite hydrogels with embedded PLGA films can be obtained likewise. They are soft, elastic and resistant to osmotic shock. In contrast, hydrogels prepared from untreated PLGA films delaminate on swelling. Accessible hybrid PAA/PLGA materials may expand PLGA’s biomedical applications.