INVESTIGATION OF ETHYLENE-VINYL ALCOHOL COPOLYMERS FOR SURFACE MODIFICATION OF CONTACT-LENSES

Ethylene-vinyl copolymers from 0 to 57 mol % of vinyl alcohol were investigated for potential contact lens surface modification. Films of the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers made by solution casting, showed that the copolymers with a high percentage of vinyl alcohol groups possessed excellent surface properties such as good wettability, low protein (albumin) and lipid adsorption, and no conformational change of the adsorbed protein. Utilizing the Langmuir-Blodgett dipping technique, and ultrathin layer of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer was deposited on a silicone rubber substrate. The initial results confirm that wettability was improved and the amount of protein adsorbed was reduced significantly after only one deposition trip.