Platelet adhesion on a polyurethane surface grafted with a zwitterionic monomer of sulfobetaine via a Jeffamine spacer

Abstract

AbstractA possible approach to improve the blood compatibility of poly(ether urethane)s (PU) involves the covalent attachment of key molecules on its surface. The purpose of the present study was to design and synthesise a novel non‐thrombogenic biomaterial by modifying the surface of the PU with a zwitterionic monomer of sulfobetaine via a Jeffamine spacer. In this study, sulfobetaine was grafted onto a PU surface through the following reaction steps: (1) The PU surface was activated with hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) in toluene at 50 °C in the presence of di‐n‐butyltin dilaurate (DBTDL) as a catalyst. The extent of the reaction was measured by ATR‐FTIR spectra; a maximum number of free NCO groups was obtained after a reaction time of 90 min. (2) One cap of Jeffamine was reacted with isocyanate groups bound on the surface, so Jeffamine was introduced. (3) The PU surface terminated by Jeffamine was recoupled with isocyanate groups by HDI. (4) The hydroxyl groups of 4‐dimethylamino‐1‐butanol (DMAB) or 2‐dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE) were allowed to react with the isocyanate groups capped on Jeffamine. (5) Sulfobetaines were constructed on the surface through the ring‐opening reaction between tertiary amine and 1,3‐propanesultone (PS). It was confirmed by ATR‐FTIR and XPS that the grafted surfaces were composed of sulfobetaine. The results of the contact‐angle measurements and water absorption showed that they were strongly hydrophilic. The results of this platelet adhesion experiment as a preliminary test showed that PU grafted with sulfobetaine has good blood compatibility featured by the low platelet adhesion. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry