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

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.