Poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) grafted on PVA hydrogel via a novel surface modification method under near-infrared light for enhancement of antifouling properties

Abstract A novel near-infrared (NIR) light induced photoinduced electron transfer-reversible addition - fragmentation chain-transfer (PET-RAFT) polymerization was developed and carboxybetaine methacrylate (CBMA) polymer brush was constructed on the PVA hydrogel via this one-spot method to enhance the antifouling properties. PVA-g-pCBMA hydrogel displayed higher hydrophilicity, while the thermal properties decreased due to the lower decomposition properties of pCBMA and the partly destruction of crystal structure inside the PVA hydrogel. The antifouling properties of PVA-g-pCBMA hydrogel was improved significantly because the surface hydration and steric repulsion effect of pCBMA polymer brush. Importantly, PVA-g-pCBMA hydrogel PVA-g-pCBMA hydrogel could be considered as no cytotoxic effect or reduction of proliferation to primary human eyelid fibroblast cells following the guidelines stated by ISO 10993-5:2009 (direct contact test). Considering the excellent penetration ability of NIR, AlPc catalyzed PET-RAFT polymerization provided a new modification approach for various biological or medical materials on industrial scale.