Construction of a blood-compatible interface based on surface segregation in a polymer blend

•A 10 wt% of PMEA blended in a PMMA film was segregated to the water interface.•Segregated PMEA showed excellent blood-compatibility.•Disturbed water structure at the interface should be a key for suppressing platelet adhesion.

The technique of surface segregation was applied to prepare a bio-inert polymer interface. A small amount, 10 wt%, of poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) (PMEA), which exhibits excellent bio-inertness properties, fed into a matrix polymer was able to suppress platelet adhesion sufficiently to be of practical use. PMEA was effective because it was preferentially segregated at the outermost region of the polymer blend. Combining interfacial-sensitive analyses such as the air bubble contact angle and neutron reflectivity measurements and sum-frequency generation spectroscopy with the platelet adhesion test gives a better understanding of how the bio-inert property is expressed at the water interface.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (159KB)Download full-size image