Process for hydrophilicization of hydrophobic polymers
US5849368A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 5, 1997 |
| Grant date | Dec 15, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 5, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC C)Chemistry; Metallurgy
- CPC primaryC08J2475/00
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A process for rendering the surfaces of polymeric plastic or rubber materials, which are intrinsically non-polar or only slightly polar, and hydrophobic, polar or more polar, and hydrophilic, so that amine-containing functional groups, and ultimately, a durable tenaciously adhering, slippery polyurethane or polyurethane-urea hydrogel coating may subsequently be applied to the polymer surface, is disclosed. The process involves dual plasma-treatment of a polymeric plastic or rubber substrate material; the first treatment being with an oxygen-containing plasma gas, to affix hydroxyl, carboxyl and carbonyl groups to the substrate surface, thereby rendering the surface more polar and activated; and the second treatment being with a nitrogen-containing plasma gas, to affix amine and amino groups to the substrate surface to make it more hydrophilic and reactive toward terminal isocyanate groups of a polyurethane or polyurethane/urea prepolymer adduct intermediate tie-coat which is subsequently applied to the substrate surface and then converted to a tenaciously adhering, slippery hydrogel coating. The process is especially suited to the hydrophilicization of intrinsically non-polar and h…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.