Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
A cylindrically-configured plasma treatment system in Radio Frequency Glow Discharges fed with ammonia was used to modify the internal surface of ePTFE arterial prostheses. The effects of RF-power on the surface chemical composition were characterized by XPS. Results show that the treatment at 20 W, for 250 seconds and under an ammonia pressure of 300 mtorr yielded a good compromise between ablation and substitution phenomena on the surface. With this treatment, fluorine content was decreased, while up to 20 % of the surface atoms were substituted by nitrogen.