The effect of plasma-induced graft copolymerization of PHEMA on silicone rubber towards improving corneal epithelial cells growth

A PHEMA grafted polymer film was prepared by plasma induced graft copolymerization onto an elastic material, silicone rubber. The control, Ar plasma-treated, and PHEMA-grafted silicone rubber surfaces were characterized by ESCA, FTIR-ATR, and SEM techniques. ESCA verified the respective chemical shift of control and Ar plasma-treated films. The presence of the grafted PHEMA was also verified by ESCA. The amounts of grafted PHEMA did not monotonously increase with the plasma exposure conditions, but decreased after passing a maximum. The introduction of PHEMA onto a hydrophobic support provided an adequate surface for rabbit corneal epithelium cell attachment and growth. Cell attachment and growth onto these surfaces were examined by light microscopy. Cell attachment onto the control and Ar plasma-treated surface was negligible, while improved attachment and growth of rabbit corneal epithelium cells was demonstrated on the PHEMA-grafted polymer surface. The PHEMA-grafted silicone rubber surface demonstrated a confluent cell layer after 72 h.