Simultaneous radiation induced graft polymerization of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone onto polypropylene non-woven fabric for improvement of blood compatibility

• N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone was grafted onto PPNWF via co-irradiation induced graft polymerization.
• The grafting of PVP enhanced the hydrophilicity of PPNWF and the DG can be simply controlled.
• The modified PPNWF possessed good blood compatibility.

In this study, N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (NVP) was grafted onto polypropylene non-woven fabric (PPNWF) through a simultaneous irradiation induced graft polymerization technique. Effect of the parameters of graft polymerization, i.e., monomer concentration, absorbed dose and dose rate, on the degree of grafting (DG) was investigated. The graft polymerization of NVP was confirmed by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A contact angle goniometry was used to test water contact angle (WCA) of original PPNWF and modified samples. The in vitro blood compatibility, including hemolysis, protein adsorption, platelet adhesion and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) of tested specimens, was evaluated. The results demonstrated that the hemocompatibility of PPNWF was improved via graft polymerization of NVP.