Process for hydrophilicization of hydrophobic polymers

Abstract From the Canadian patent

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 …