Surface modification of nylon‐6 fibers for medical applications

Hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) is considered to be one of the important vinyl monomers. The ability of polyhydroxyethyl‐methacylate (PHEMA) graft sites to consecutive chemical modification makes the use of nylon‐6 fibers grafted with PHEMA a feasible bed for immobilization of a wide range of biologically active reagents, specially enzymes, drugs, cells, and immunadsorbents. Stemming from the above discussions, in this article, the graft copolymerization of HEMA onto modified nylon‐6 fibers containing Polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) in the presence of Cu²⁺–K₂S₂O₈ as a redox initiating system was carried out, with very high rate and almost without homopolymer formation. The factors affecting the grafting reaction (monomer, K₂S₂O₈ and cupric ion concentrations, the amount of PDADMAC as well as the reaction temperature) were studied. Kinetic investigation revealed that the rate of grafting (R_p) of HEMA onto modified nylon‐6 fibers is proportional to [HEMA]¹, [CuSO₄.5H₂O] ^0.7, [PDADMAC]^0.4, and [K₂S₂O₈]^1.4. The overall activation energy was calculated (71 KJ/mol). The fine structure, surface topography, thermal and electrical properties of parent and grafted nylon‐6 fibers were investigated. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 3788–3796, 2007