Properties and biocompatibility of polypropylene graft copolymer films

Modifying the surfaces of polymers has received a great deal of attention, because it could bring about specific surface characteristics such as antithrombogenic property. Therefore, N-vinyl pyrrolidone/sodium acrylate (NVP/Na-AAc) binary monomers were introduced onto polypropylene (PP) films by a radiation grafting method. The effect of solvent and comonomer composition on the degree of grafting was determined. Studies of the mechanical properties and water content of such graft copolymers showed that as the grafting yield increases the elongation percent decreases. However, the water content increases with increasing grafting yield. The blood compatibility of the original PP and PP-g–NVP/Na-AAc films was evaluated by determination of the extent of platelet adsorption and thrombus formation. The blood compatibility of PP-g–NVP/Na-AAc seems to be better than that of original PP. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 68B: 209–215, 2004