Graft photopolymerization of polyethylene glycol monoacrylate (PEGA) on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films to prevent BSA adsorption

This work aims at developing antifouling surfaces. For that purpose, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films are surface-modified by grafting a solution spin-coated macromonomer, polyethylene glycol monoacrylate (PEGA) under UV irradiation in ambient air. Benzophenone is used as photosensitizer to generate polymer radicals at the surface of the PMMA film. This graft polymerization is carried out onto PMMA substrates pretreated by wet oxidation, with different PEGA formulations. The photografting of PEGA solution is evidenced by Time-of Flight (ToF)-SIMS and XPS. Both techniques clearly proved that PEGA is grafted onto preoxidized PMMA substrates. The effect of macromonomer concentration on extent of grafting is investigated. It was found that the amount of grafted PEGA increases by increasing PEGA concentration. Inhibition of protein adhesion by the modified PMMA surfaces is evaluated by XPS and ToF-SIMS, using, bovine serum albumin (BSA) as model protein. The photografted PMMAox surfaces exhibit excellent protein repellence for high PEGA concentration. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.