Our research article titled “Hydrophobically modified poly(acrylic acid) coatings on silicone hydrogel contact lenses” by Jimin Yoo, Minjoong Shin, Si Chul Rho, Minho Jung, and Myungeun Seo was published in RSC Applied Polymers.

Silicone hydrogel (Si-Hy) contact lenses offer high oxygen permeability and mechanical durability, but their silicone-rich components often reduce surface wettability and increase friction during lens wear. To address this challenge, this study explored hydrophobically modified poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-based amphiphilic copolymers as coating materials for Si-Hy lenses.

In this work, a series of statistical copolymers were synthesized by copolymerizing acrylic acid with alkyl acrylates bearing linear alkyl side chains with carbon numbers ranging from 6 to 12. By varying molecular weight, hydrophobic content, and alkyl chain length, we systematically investigated how hydrophobic interactions influence solution behavior, interfacial properties, and coating performance. Increasing hydrophobic content enhanced anchoring to silicone domains, whereas excessive hydrophobicity promoted intermolecular association of alkyl chains. Among the copolymers studied, poly(acrylic acid-co-octyl acrylate) exhibited the most effective coating performance, improving surface wettability and lubrication of Si-Hy lenses.

This study demonstrates that amphiphilic PAA-based coatings with optimized hydrophobic contents and alkyl chain lengths can effectively improve the interfacial properties of Si-Hy contact lenses. These findings provide useful design guidelines for polymer coatings on chemically heterogeneous biomedical surfaces.

The full article is available at the following link: https://pubs.rsc.org/es-co/content/articlelanding/2026/lp/d6lp00094k

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