Initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition of Homopolymers and Copolymers of Poly(2- Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate) and Poly(Ethylene Glycol) for Use as Thin-Film Hydrogels

摘要

Initiated Chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) is a one step surface polymerization technique without the use of solvents. The elimination of solvents is especially beneficial in biomedical applications because residual organic solvents in solvent-processed matrices decrease the activity of incorporated factors and promote inflammatory responses in vivo1. In iCVD selective thermal decomposition of species is achieved using resistively heated filament wires. Furthermore, iCVD combines the dry environment of CVD with a radical polymerization solution chemistry without the liquid phase by thermally creating an initiator radical and combining it with monomer units repeatedly. Additionally, to promote surface adsorption of reactive species, iCVD relies on a cooled particle bed that is at a temperature (usually room temperature) much lower than the initiator activation temperature. This conveniently enables particle materials, for example, pharmaceutical drugs, proteins and polymer systems that may degrade at elevated temperatures to be treated via iCVD without compromising their material integrity. Also, by using controlled polymerization chemistries, iCVD produces exceptionally clean polymers with stoichiometric compositions, high molecular weights, and with no residual solvents, excipients, glidants, or plasticizers.