APA International Conference on Advances in

Polymer Science & Technology

Functionalization of Polymers for Biomedical Engineering (Arial, font 12)

Sadiya Anjuma, Amlan Guptab, Surabhi Singha, Jincy Joya, Bhuvanesh Guptaa (Arial, font 10)

aBioengineeringLaboratory, Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi-110016,

India
bDepartment of Pathology, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Gangtok, Sikkim (Arial, font 10)

Email: sadiya2203@gmail.com

Abstract (Arial, font 10)

Infection is a serious problem in biomedical application of polymers. This infection can be fatal in nature and may
lead to significant loss of lives together. This is where it becomes very important to have materials which are
inherently capable of taking care of the infection. Polymeric materials, especially hydrogels and hydrocolloids have
been a boon to human healthcare due to their very innovative and beneficial life support features. Hydrogel
dressings retain moisture and warmth, have been shown to reduce the incidence of wound infection and are a more
appropriate treatment than gauze dressings. However, the development of such materials requires a close
collaboration between medicine, microbiology and materials chemistry.

The development of polymers with bioactive coating is an important area of research focused on solving the problem
of contamination by infection in sutures and in wound care systems. We have observed that a bioactive component
may be incorporated within the hydrogel matrix to make it infection resistant. Because of the inert nature of most
polymers, they must undergo surface functionalization prior to attachment of a bioactive compound. The plasma
functionalization offers an effective method by which desired features can be achieved on a material surface.
Desired chemistry can be generated on the polymer surface by appropriate selection of the gaseous medium and
has been very effective in developing sutures and wound dressings. Herbal bioactive agents, have been used for
this application. Nanosilver nanohydrogels (nSnH) of poly(methacrylic acid) were synthesized and stabilized using
gamma irradiation by water in oil nanoemulsion polymerization and have been used to create biofunctional surfaces
for medical devices and systems.

References
1. S. Anjum, A. Gupta, D. Sharma, S. Kumari, B. Gupta. J. Bioactive Comp. Polym. Biomed. Appl. 2016, 32,1
2. S. Anjum, A. Gupta, D. Sharma, D. Gautam, A. Kapil, B. Gupta. Mat. Sci. Eng. C. 2016, 64:157.