Plasma-induced graft-polymerization of polyethylene glycol acrylate on polypropylene substrates

摘要

A detailed study of argon plasma-induced graft-polymerization of polyethylene glycol acrylate (PEGA) on polypropylene (PP) substrates (membranes and films) is presented. The process consists of four steps: (a) plasma pre-activation of the PP substrates; (b) immersion in a PEGA solution; (c) argon plasma-induced graft-polymerization; (d) washing and drying of the samples. Influence of the solution and plasma parameters on the process efficiency evaluated in terms of amount of grafted polymer, coverage uni_formity and substrates wettability, are investigated. The plasma-induced graft-polymerization of PEGA is then followed by sample weighting, water droplet adsorption time and contact angle measurements, attenu_ated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses. The stability of the obtained thin films was evaluated in water and in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) at 37°C. Results clearly indicates that plasma-induced graft-polymerization of PEGA is a practical methodology for anti-fouling surface modification of materials.