Attachment of horseradish peroxidase to polytetrafluorethylene (teflon) after plasma immersion ion implantation

The aim of this work was to investigate the potential of polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) as a surface for biologically active protein attachment. A plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) treatment was applied to PTFE to produce an activated surface for the functional attachment of the enzyme, horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Fourier transform infrared–attenuated total reflectance spectra show oxidation and carbonization of the surface layer as a function of ion fluence. The PIII treatment increases by threefold the amount of attached HRP and the activity of HRP on the modified surface is about seven times higher than that on an untreated PTFE surface. This result indicates that the PIII surface modification improves both the polymer’s protein binding capacity and its ability to retain the protein in a bioactive state.