Surface Modification of Polyester-Fabric with Hydrogels and Silver Nanoparticles: Photochemical Versus Gamma Irradiation Methods.

A Gamma irradiation and photochemical crosslinking/grafting of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) (poly(HEMA-co-PEGMA)) hydrogels onto polyethyleneterephtalate fabric (PET) surfaces were evaluated, in order to obtain a hydrophilic homogeneous coating onto PET fabrics. The materials were characterized by FTIR-ATR, SEM, EDS, and thermal analysis. Furthermore, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were loaded by in situ reduction of AgNO, and its antibacterial activity against and was determined.

Tunable Thermo-Responsive Copolymers from DEGMA and OEGMA Synthesized by RAFT Polymerization and the Effect of the Concentration and Saline Phosphate Buffer on its Phase Transition.

Thermo-responsive polymers and copolymers derivatives of oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate ( = 300 g mol) (OEGMA) and di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (DEGMA) have been synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) using 5-amino-4-methyl-4-(propylthiocarbonothioylthio)-5-oxopentanoic acid (APP) as chain transfer agent (CTA). The monomer conversion was evaluated by hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (H-NMR); number average molecular weights (), weight average molecular weight (), and dispersity () were obtained by gel permeation chromatography (GPC); glass transition temperature () was evaluated by modulated differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), cloud point temperature () was measured and compared by turbidimetry and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The effect of polymer composition and concentration on the , either in water or in phosphate buffer saline (PBS), was studied.