Grafting, characterization techniques, kinetic modeling

Most untreated polymer surfaces in industry are hydrophobic, making it challenging to bond them directly to polar substances like adhesives, inks, and paints. When these surfaces come into contact with biological systems, they tend to adsorb proteins, leading to cell attachment or platelet aggregation. This protein adsorption can trigger adverse biological reactions towards the polymers. Consequently, surface modification technologies have become crucial in polymer applications since the inception of the industry. These technologies focus on introducing new functionalities to polymer surfaces, enhancing properties such as hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, biocompatibility, conductivity, anti-fogging, anti-fouling, grazing, surface hardness, roughness, adhesion, lubrication, and antistatic characteristics. While there is typically a significant difference between the surface and bulk properties of materials, this distinction is less pronounced in polymers. The outermost polymer surface is not static; it changes over time due to the microscopic Brownian motion of polymer segments, complicating the understanding of surface properties.