Fluorinated Methacrylate-Grafted P(VDF-CTFE) and Albumin Layers for Reducing Fibrinogen Adsorption

The use of extracorporeal devices is growing rapidly for the treatment of the fatal cardiovascular and kidney failures. Even though there has been much clinical progress in the past few decades to reduce fatality, these improvements are insufficiently supported by the development in medical devices. Particularly, it is imperative that the blood-contacting medical devices have nonprotein-fouling materials that can efficiently prevent blood coagulation. Herein, perfluoromethyl methacrylates (PFMMAs) with short perfluorinated side groups (−CF3, −CF2CF3, and −(CF2)2CF3) are strategically grafted into poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (PVDF-CTFE) to reduce protein adhesion. On the basis of the type of the perfluorinated side group, the surface energies of the graft copolymers are controlled in the range of 11.1–18.7 mN m–1. The graft copolymer with the lowest surface energy showed the lowest protein adsorption for both albumin and fibrinogen, as compared with the other graft copolymers and PMMA. Interestingly, albumin pretreatment of the surface remarkably reduces the amount of adsorbed fibrinogen from 2069 ng cm–2 (without albumin pretreatment) to 5.6 ng cm–2. This indicates that the graft copolymer is practically useful for various blood-contacting devices because fibrinogen is the key glycoprotein that induces blood coagulation.