Largely improved blood compatibility of polyurethane by blending with fluorinated phosphatidylcholine polyurethane

The improvement of biocompatibility of polyurethanes was investigated. The results demonstrate that the blood compatibility of polyurethanes can be further improved by just simply mixing with the fluorinated phosphatidylcholine poly( carbonate urethane)s ( FPCPCUs).The solution blending was done by mixing poly( ether urethane) (PEU) with FPCPCU in different compositions. An increased blood compatibility of the blend films was observed with the increase of FPCPCU content, and when FPCPCU content reached to 40 wt% ( 40FPCPCU film), 6 times and 23 times decrease of platelet adhesion number have been achieved, compared with that of FPCPCU and PEU, respectively. More interestingly, the blend films showed even better blood compatibility than that of FPCPCU. DSC, AFM and XPS were used to characterize the miscibility and surface structure of the blends film. The largely improved blood compatibility was rationalized based on the combined effect of phase separation between PEU and FPCPCU and the formation of surface nanostructures induced by segregation of FPCPCU at the surface.