Platelet adhesive resistance of polyurethane surface grafted with zwitterions of sulfobetaine

Abstract

A possible approach to improve the blood compatibility of poly(etherurethane)s (PU) involves the covalent attachment of key molecular on its surface. Recently, polymer tailed with zwitterions was found having good blood compatibility. The purpose of present study was to design and synthesis a novel nonthrombogenic biomaterial by modifying the surface of poly(etherurethane) with zwitterions of sulfobetaine via HDI spacer. The films of polyurethane were grafted with sulfobetaine by a three-step procedure. In the first step, the film surfaces were treated with hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) in toluene at 50 °C in the presence of di-n-butyl tin dilaurate(DBTDL) as a catalyst. The extent of the reaction was measured by ATR-IR spectra; a maximum number of free NCO group was obtained after a reaction time of 2.5 h. In the second step, the primary amine group of N, N-diethylethylenediamine (DEA) or N, N-dimethylethylenediamine (DMA) was allowed to react in toluene with isocyanate groups bound on surface. In the third step, two kinds of sulfobetaines were formed in the surface through the ring-opening reaction between tertiary amine of DMA or DEA and 1,3- propanesultone (PS). The reaction process was monitored with ATR-IR spectra and XPS spectra. The wettability of films was investigated by water contact angle measurement. A platelet adhesion experiment was conducted as a preliminary test to confirm the improved blood compatibility of PU. The number of platelets adhering to PU decreased greatly compared to original after 1 h and 3 h of contact with human plate-rich plasma.