Surface modification of microporous polypropylene hollow fiber membranes was performed by radical-induced graft polymerization of N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA). The influences of temperature, monomer concentration and pre-adsorbed amount of benzoyl peroxide on grafting degree were studied respectively. It was found that the appropriate graft temperature was 75 "C, at which the grafting degree was the highest and the hydrolytic decomposition of DMAEMA the lowest. Scanning electron photomicrography and the average pore diameters of the modified membranes demonstrated that part of the micropores on the membrane surface was plugged by the grafted polyDMAEMA chains, especially at high grafting degree. Contact angle and water swelling experiments showed that a moderate grafting degree could improve the hydrophilicity of the membranes. In the range of 11.3%-12.0% grafting degree, the water swelling percentage reached its maximum (51.1%) and the contact angle reached its minimum (74 degrees). The bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption experiment indicated that the grafted polyDMAEMA had a dual effect on protein adsorption. At the first stage, the BSA adsorption decreased with increasing of DMAEMA grafting degree. As the interaction between BSA and polyDMAEMA on membrane surface increased, the BSA adsorption increased with increasing of DMAEMA grafting degree.
In this work, a novel sugar-containing copolymer was synthesized by the copolymerization of a-allyl glucoside (AG) with acrylonitrile (AN). The copolymers were characterized by NMR spectroscopy. It was found that acrylonitrile-based copolymers containing as high as 22wt.% of a-allyl glucoside can be synthesized by the free radical solution copolymerization of the two monomers in DMSO with AIBN as initiator.
In this work, the surface properties of novel sugar-containing polymers, α-allyl glucoside (AG)/acrylonitrile (AN)copolymers, were studied by contact angle, protein adsorption and cell adhesion measurements. It was found that the contact angle of the copolymer films decreased from 68° to 30° with the increase of AG content in the copolymer. The adsorption amount of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the adhesive macrophage onto the film surface also decreased significantly with increasing α-allyl glucoside content from 0 to 42 wt% in the copolymer. These preliminary results reveal that both the hydrophilicity and the biocompatibility of polyacrylonitrile-based membranes could be improved by copolymerizing acrylonitrile with vinyl carbohydrates.
