Anticlotting membrane based on polypropylene grafted by biocompatible monomers under UV irradiation

Biocompatible membranes were successfully prepared by biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) cografted with hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and vinyltriethoxysilicane (VES), in which nonvapor and nonliquid photo-grafting technology was used under the irradiation of UV lamp. HEA and VES cografted BOPP (HV-g-PP) was then used to fabricate anticlotting membrane by immobilizing heparin on it. The grafting degree of BOPP host and the chemical structure of grafting layer were studied by grafting degree test, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), atomic force microscope (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements, respectively. Anticoagulation capability of the heparin immobilized HV-g-PP membrane (HHV-g-PP) was also investigated by hemolytic test. The results show that HEA and VES can be effectively grafted onto BOPP substrates via nonvapor and nonliquid photo-grafting method, and that the grafting degree reaches 144.8 wt % when the reaction time approaches 20 min. The heparin content of HHV-g-PP membrane increases from 0 to 4 wt % as the reaction time alters from 0 to 20 min. The hemolytic degree rapidly reduces from 5.1 wt % to 2.7 wt % with increasing the grafting degree from 0 to 144.8 wt %, implying a significant anticoagulation improvement of the HHV-g-PP membrane. Such functional membranes have large potential applications in blood-related packaging areas. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012