The study of plasmaʹs modification effects in viscose used as an absorbent for wound-relevant fluids

Extreme non-equilibrium oxygen plasma was used for the deep functionalisation of viscose materials used for the healing of chronic wounds. Those thermal effects, which usually appear during plasma treatment due to the influence of charged particles, were avoided effectively by using electrode-less discharge at a very low power density of 25 W/l volume. A huge flux of neutrally reactive atoms at room temperature of 3 x 1023 m−2 s−1, allowed for the effective diffusion of O-atoms into inter-fibril space and thus the activation of fibrils throughout the non-woven materials. Apart from the standard Wilhelmy balance and pedant drop method for determining the absorption dynamics on a macroscopic scale, optical polarisation microscopy was applied for studying the microscopic effects. The sorption characteristics were determined for saline solution, exudate, and blood and the results showed a dramatic improvement. Focusing on hydrophobic recovery prevention, the modified samples were stored for 10 days in air, nitrogen, and argon atmospheres. Some ageing effects occurred, whilst the absorption properties were independent of the storage atmosphere.