Thermally Crosslinked Biocompatible Hydrophilic Polyvinylpyrrolidone Coatings on Polypropylene with Enhanced Mechanical and Adhesion Properties

We developed a stable hydrophilic biocompatible hydrogel-forming coating for polypropylene (PP)-based disposal medical applications. Although PP has a variety of advantages, including good stability and inertness in medical applications, tissue damage and insertion resistance are observed upon insertion of PP-based devices into the human body due to the high hydrophobicity of the PP surface. These issues limit the utility of PP in medical applications. To address these problems, we sought to develop a stable hydrophilic and biocompatible hydrogel-forming layer using polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) combined with a crosslinked polyethyleneglycolacrylate (PEGDA) matrix. Systematic studies of the blended hydrogel-forming PVP:PEGDA were conducted using a variety of blending ratios between the two polymers. The hydrophilicity and water-affinity of the hydrogel-forming layer improved significantly as the PEGDA-to-PVP blending ratio increased. Importantly, the tensile strain at the break point increased by a factor of more than 7, and the strength of adhesion to the PP surface for the 1:1 PVP:PEGDA (PVP(1):PEGDA(1)) blend ratio was 54 times that of the PVP film, determined using tensile strain–stress and peel tests. The water stability of the PVP(1):PEGDA(1) improved significantly. This approach is potentially useful as a biocompatible hydrophilic polymer coating in a variety of low-priced consumable PP commercial medical applications.