Studies of biocompatibility of chemically etched CR-39 SSNTDs in view of their applications in alpha-particle radiobiological experiments

✍ Scribed by W.Y. Li; K.F. Chan; A.K.W. Tse; W.F. Fong; K.N. Yu

• Book ID: 104068874
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 357 KB
• Volume: 248
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0168-583X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nimb.2006.04.151

✦ Synopsis

Alpha-particle radiobiological experiments involve irradiating cells with alpha particles and require thin biocompatible materials which can record alpha-particle traversals as substrates for cell cultures. The biocompatibilities of chemically etched CR-39 solid-state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs) using aqueous NaOH or NaOH/ehtanol are studied through the abundance and morphology of the cultured HeLa cells. The wetting properties of these etched CR-39 SSNTDs are also studied. The moderately hydrophobic CR-39 SSNTDs as well as the hydrophobic NaOH/ethanol-etched CR-39 SSNTDs are more biocompatible than the hydrophilic aqueous-NaOH-etched SSNTDs. Too small water contact angles, too large surface energy (c s ) or the polar component c p s

À Á

do not favor the cell culture. On the other hand, the dispersive component c d s À Á of the surface energy and the ratio c p s =c d s do not seem to significantly affect the biocompatibility.