Grafting of chemical groups onto polymers by means of RF plasma treatments: A technology for biomedical applications

A brief review on plasma-processes used in biomedical applications is presented, along with results obtained by our group on the plasma-grafting of chemical functionalities onto polymers, RF Glow Discharges in NH3/H-2 and O-2/H2O/H-2 feeds have been utilized for grafting nitrogen-(e.g. -NH2) and oxygen-containing (e. g. -OH, -COOH) functionalities onto polymers in a reproducible, controlled selective fashion. Efficiency and selectivity of the grafting can, in principle, be tuned by optimizing the treatments with a proper, combined use of Actinometry and derivatization-aided Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis. Grafted -COOH groups have been used as "anchor sites" for immobilizing heparin and highly-sulphated hyaluronic acid in an active, anti-thrombotic form onto polyethylene.