Melt-Blown Polypropylene Membrane Modification for Enhanced Hydrophilicity

Melt-blown, an environmentally friendly technique, is widely used to create high-quality non-woven fabrics by extruding molten polymer resins into interlaced fibers. In the realm of biomedical textiles, its unique microstructure makes it ideal for filtration and wound dressings. Our study focuses on modifying the surfaces of polypropylene melt-blown membranes. An effective, one-step, suitable, and reliable method to graft a bioactive polymer, sodium polystyrene sulfonate-PolyNaSS, onto the membranes has been developed. The process involves UV irradiation to initiate direct and progressive growth of NaSS over the surface through radical polymerization. To assess the efficiency of the grafting, techniques like colorimetry, water contact angle measurements, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used. Outcomes related to the grafting were demonstrated by a change in wettability and quantitatively calculated sulfonate groups. Subsequently, grafted PolyNaSS promoted cell adhesion, as evidenced by improved cell morphology. On grafted membranes, fibroblasts exhibited a stretched shape, while non-grafted ones showed inactive round shapes. These findings underscore the chemical and biological reactivity of polypropylene materials, opening exciting possibilities for various applications of melt-blown materials.