Hydrophilization of Tecoflex by Plasma Treatment

The fibrinogen adsorption determined by means of the ELISA technique gives first evidence of the enhanced blood compatibility of the modified Tecoflex 

When the fibrinogen adsorption is reduced upon hydrophilization of Tecoflex surfaces, an improved blood compatibility is expected. Since the hydrophihcity of the surface under common storage conditions is not permanent the development of stable hydrophilic polymer surfaces is desirable. 

Plasma-Induced Graftpolymerization of Hydrogels on Poly (ether sulfone) and on Tecoflex  

Plasma-induced grafting of hydrogels offers a possibility to obtain permanent minimization of the surface energy of hydrophobic polymer surfaces. Hydrox-yethylmethacrylate (HEMA) was applied as hydrophilic monomer, the polymer of which is already known in the fabrication of contact lenses [1,112]. Acrylic acid (AAc) was chosen as the hydrogel building monomer to generate a stable, hydrophilic surface with the additional possibility of using the acid functions for further immobilization of bioactive substances. 

Hydrogel Coating ofPoly(ether sulfone). Due to the fact that PES has no functional groups which allow a wet chemical modification, plasma-induced hydroperoxide formation presents a suitable method to carry out the subsequent thermoinitiated graftpolymerization of HEMA (cf. Fig. 12). The iodometric determination of the hydroperoxide concentration at the surface shows that a saturation value is achieved after 4 min of argon plasma treatment and subsequent air exposure [113]. 

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