Antithrombogenicity of poly(ether ether ketone) surface prepared by self-initiated surface graft polymerization of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine

Abstract

Poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) is a kind of super engineering plastics, which has good mechanical properties and heat-and chemical-resistances. We have therefore attempted to use PEEK for cardiovascular devices. The cardiovascular devices require both mechanical properties and antithrombogenicity. We modified the PEEK surface by the photoinduced graft polymerization with 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) (PMPC-grafted PEEK) for obtaining antithrombogenicity. Polymerization was carried out on PEEK surface under ultraviolet ray (UV) irradiation and we controlled monomer concentrations, temperatures and UV intensities. With increased the polymer layer thickness, the amount of fibrinogen adsorption decreased. The fibrinogen is dominant protein to determine platelet adhesion and activation. When contacted with human platelet rich plasma, PMPC-grafted PEEK surface clearly showed inhibition of platelet adhesion and activation. Thus, the PMPC-grafted PEEK is significant method to obtain antithrombogenicity.