Synthesis and characterization of novel carboxylated ethylene-vinyl alcohol polymers

In order to obtain polymers provided with improved haemocompatibility a commercial ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVAL) was chemically modified by the introduction of different amounts of carboxylated groups. The carboxylation was carried out by reaction of the EVAL hydroxy groups with three different anhydrides. The influence of the reagents molar ratio on the functionalization degree was evaluated. The new terpolymers (EVAL–COOH) have been characterized by chemical and physico-chemical techniques as titration of the acidic groups, elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis and 1 H-NMR.