Novel silicone hydrogel based on PDMS and PEGMA for contact lens application

A silicone-based hydrogel was synthesized from poly(dimethylsiloxane) dialkanol (PDMS), isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA). The hydrophilicity of the resulting block copolymer was adjustable by manipulating the ratio of PDMS and PEGMA. The results showed that higher PEGMA content led to a lower water contact angle, higher water content, lower elastic modulus and higher glucose permeability. At a PEGMA content of 20%, the protein adsorption decreased to 23% and 18% for lysozyme and human serum albumin (HSA), respectively, of those of the control (PDMS-PU). This indicated that the PDMS-PU–PEGMA hydrogels exhibited an ability to resist protein adsorption. The oxygen permeability (Dk) was 92 barrers for the hydrogel with 20% PEGMA. Furthermore, these hydrogels were non-cytotoxic according to an in vitro L929 fibroblast assay. Overall, the results demonstrated that the PDMS-PU–PEGMA hydrogels exhibited not only relatively high oxygen permeability and relative optical transparency, but also hydrophilicity and anti-protein adsorption; therefore, they would be applicable as a contact lens material. Furthermore, this study demonstrated a new approach to controlling the performance of silicone hydrogels.