Abstract
The surface of soft contact lenses made of crosslinked poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), pHEMA, has been investigated with atomic force microscopy in contact mode. The friction force and adhesive force measurements were able to differentiate the non-crosslinked pHEMA chains from the surface of the crosslinked pHEMA networks. These non-crosslinked pHEMA chains at the surface were anchored to the crosslinked pHEMA network, most likely by entanglement and their surfaces were about 2-4nm higher than the surrounding surface in a dehydrated state. In saline solution, the surface friction and adhesive force of the contact lens were significantly reduced compared to those measured for the surface-dehydrated contact lens.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3285-3294 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Biomaterials |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 24 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 15 2001 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Bioengineering
- Ceramics and Composites
- Biophysics
- Biomaterials
- Mechanics of Materials