Autonomous Anticoagulation on a Biomimetic Al-Based Hierarchical Surface

Studies targeting the blood repellency and autonomous anticoagulation of superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces are potentially valuable for their application in blood contact. The anticoagulation abilities and potential mechanisms of different SH surfaces urgently need to be revealed. In this study, a range of microprotrusion arrays on Al substrates with varying spacings via laser ablation through the utilization of organic adsorption and siloxane coupling reactions were fabricated. Consequently, gridded SH Al-based surfaces were prepared, and their blood-repellency and autonomous anticoagulation properties were evaluated. In vitro experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of these surfaces in preventing nonspecific protein adsorption and platelet adhesion, and the surfaces exhibited no indications of hemolysis or toxicity. Remarkably, the SH surfaces maintained good antiplatelet adhesion and platelet activation inhibition properties after 7 days of incubation in platelet-rich plasma, and the anticoagulation capacity of different SH surfaces was compared with elements analysis on the surfaces. Specifically, the SH Al surface exhibited low protein adsorption when incubated with 10 mg/mL of bovine serum albumin solution. Furthermore, this study illustrated the relationship between the hierarchical micronano structure of the SH surfaces and their autonomous anticoagulant behavior. The integration of a readily available SH surface with autonomous anticoagulant ability represents a promising strategy for the application of metallic materials in medical devices involving blood contact.