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

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 aqueousNaOH-etched SSNTDs. Too small water contact angles, too large surface energy (cs) or the polar component cs do not favor the cell culture. On the other hand, the dispersive component cs of the surface energy and the ratio cs =c d s do not seem to significantly affect the biocompatibility. 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.