Au nanoparticles grafted on plasma treated polymers

Excerpt

Surface modification of commonly used polymers has been of increasing interest during last decades [1]. The formation of hydrophilic structures on polymer surface improves wettability, dyeing capacity, and biocompatibility of polymers without altering their favourable bulk mechanical and physical properties. Proper surface modification offers an easy way to increase the reactive potential of rather non-reactive surfaces of pristine polymers through introduction of new functional groups. Functionalized surfaces with high concentration of reactive and easily accessible groups seem to be of interest for the development of biocompatible materials, which could accept and immobilize amino acids and proteins [2]. Also, immobilization of a hydrophilic polymer onto hydrophobic surface of another polymer is not feasible without a special pre-treatment to enhance the surface polarity and reactivity of the polymer substrate [3]. …