Novel surface modification technique for chemically inert polymers for medical and biomedical applications

热塑性聚合物，如聚（对苯二甲酸乙酯）和聚丙烯是灵活的，有弹性的，耐用的，并抗生物降解。正是这些特性使这种聚合物在医疗用途上非常理想，如外科手术帷帐、缝合线、血管移植物和韧带假体。然而，当这些聚合物与血液接触或植入人体时，它们的疏水表面会引起诸如血栓等医学并发症。通常某些特定的应用，如手术窗帘，将需要专门的功能，如抗菌表面，以减少医院交叉感染的可能性。因此，为基体聚合物添加功能或改善其生物相容性的表面性能工程成为医用纺织品、生物材料和生物医学领域的重要课题。本研究将为化学惰性热塑性聚合物开发一种新的、无损的、有效的、高效的改性技术。具有官能团的聚合物，如羟基，将通过形成互穿网络固定在热塑性聚合物的表面上。为了进一步设计表面性能，在将固定的官能团转化为适当的共引发剂或引发剂后，可以使用“接枝”技术将聚合物刷结构附着在表面上。实验技术将用于表征形成的互穿网络，以及与改性材料的固定效率和表面性能相关的结果。本研究将在化学惰性高分子材料的表面改性方面取得突破性进展，对其在医用纺织品、生物材料和医疗器械等领域的应用具有重要意义。研究结果还可用于为提供防护设备、医疗器械和生物材料的行业提供技术支持。这项工作将培养具有高分子化学、分析化学、医用纺织和生物材料科学跨学科技能的高素质人才。

Thermoplastic polymers such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) and polypropylene are flexible, resilient, durable, and resist biological degradation. It is these properties that make such polymers desirable for medical uses such as surgical drapes, sutures, vascular grafts and ligament prostheses. However, the hydrophobic surfaces of these polymers can cause medical complications such as thrombosis when their use brings them in contact with blood, or when they are implanted into the human body. Often certain specific applications, such as surgical drapes, will require specialized functions such as antimicrobial surfaces to decrease the possibility of cross-infection in hospitals. Therefore, surface property engineering to either add functions to the substrate polymers or to improve their biocompatibility becomes an important task in the field of medical textiles, biomaterials and biomedical science. The proposed study will develop a novel non-destructive, effective and efficient modification technique for chemically inert thermoplastic polymers. Polymers with functional groups, such as hydroxyls, will be immobilized onto the surfaces of thermoplastic polymers by the formation of an interpenetrating network. To further engineer the surface property, polymer brush architectures can be attached to the surface using a "grafting from" technique after converting the immobilized functional group into proper co-initiator or initiator. Experimental techniques will be explored for the characterization of the formed interpenetrating network and the results correlated to the immobilization efficiency and surface property of the modified materials. The proposed study will lead to a breakthrough in the science of surface modification of chemically inert polymeric materials, which is essential for their applications as medical textiles, biomaterials, and medical devices. The results of the studies can also be used to provide technical support to industries providing protective equipments, medical devices and biomaterials. The proposed work will lead to the training of highly qualified personnel with interdisciplinary skills in Polymer Chemistry, Analytic Chemistry, Medical Textile and Biomaterial Science.