Plasma etching effect on the molecular structure of chitosan-based hydrogels and its biological properties.

To reasonably use hydrogels in healthcare field, this study four kinds of chitosan (CTS)-based hydrogels with different molecular structures. With plasma etching, the morphology, chemical groups' proportion, and hydrophilicity of the hydrogel surface were changed. At 40 min of modification, the ratios of CO and NH on the CTS40-based hydrogel surface increased and reached their maximum values of 40.