Surface functionalization of low density polyethylene films with grafted poly(ethylene glycol) derivatives

Surface functionalization of low density polyethylene (LDPE) film with poly( ethylene glycol) (PEG) derivatives was achieved by UV-induced graft copolymerization with poly( ethylene glycol) monomethacrylate (PEGMA), followed by converting the hydroxy end groups of the PEG side chains of the grafted PEGMA polymer into various functional groups. The functional groups included chloride, bromide, amine, aldehyde, carboxylic acid and sodium sulfonate groups. The surface functionalized LDPE films were characterized by attenuated total reflectance (ATR) FT-IR spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). LDPE films with surface-grafted PEG derivatives are potentially useful substrates for biomedical applications.