| In the biomaterials industry, polymeric materials are widely used as medical or prosthetic devices. However, most polymers currently used for these applications do not fully satisfy the biocompatibility requirements. Although the interactions between medical implants and living tissues or cells are very complex and are still not fully understood, it is well known that the interfacial properties of implants play an important role in the interactions. Therefore, the synthesis of biocompatible interfaces using surface modification techniques were considered as one of the most promising solutions in improving the biocompatibility of implants.; This research was devoted to the synthesis and characterization of hydrophilic surface grafts onto several major biomedical polymers. These biomedical polymers include PMMA, PDMS, PC, PP, FEP, and PVDF. Monomers, including N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) and dimethylacrylamide (DMA), were utilized in this study. Also, a new PVP/NVP monomer system was employed for the surface modification.; A novel technique termed the "Plasma/Gamma Method" was used to graft hydrophilic vinyl monomers onto polymeric substrates. The "Plasma/Gamma Method" involves two important steps: radio frequency (RF) water plasma treatment and gamma-induced graft polymerization. The purpose of plasma treatment is to revitalize the inert polymer surface, thereby enhancing interfacial interactions and diffusion of monomer to the substrate surface.; Surfaces were characterized using gravimetric analysis, ellipsometry, contact angle measurements, Fourier transform infrared by attenuated total reflectance (FT-IR/ATR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).; Preliminary in-vitro evaluations carried out with polymer slabs indicated that PVP-grafted polymers by the "Plasma/Gamma Method" significantly reduced the incidence of cell adhesions. |
