Nowadays, a variety of materials are employed to make numerous medical devices, including metals, polymers, ceramics, and others. Blood-contact devices are one of the major classes of these medical devices, and they have been widely applied in clinical settings. Blood-contact devices usually need to have good mechanical properties to maintain clinical performance. Metal materials are one desirable candidate to fabricate blood-contact devices due to their excellent mechanical properties and machinability, although the blood compatibility of existing blood-contact devices is better than other medical devices, such as artificial joints and artificial crystals. However, blood coagulation still occurs when these devices are used in clinical settings. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new generation of blood-contact devices with fewer complications, and the key factor is to develop novel biomaterials with good blood compatibility. In this work, one albumin biopassive polyallylamine film was successfully established onto the 316L stainless steel (SS) surface. The polyallylamine film was prepared by plasma polymerization in the vacuum chamber, and then polyallylamine film was annealed at 150 °C for 1 h. The chemical compositions of the plasma polymerized polyallylamine film (PPAa) and the annealed polyallylamine film (HT-PPAa) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR). Then, the wettability, surface topography, and thickness of the PPAa and HT-PPAa were also evaluated. HT-PPAa showed increased stability when compared with PPAa film. The major amino groups remained on the surface of HT-PPAa after annealing, indicating that this could be a good platform for numerous molecules' immobilization. Subsequently, the bovine serum albumin (BSA) was immobilized onto the HT-PPAa surface. The successful introduction of the BSA was confirmed by the FTIR and XPS detections. The blood compatibility of these modified films was evaluated by platelets adhesion and activation assays. The number of the platelets that adhered on BSA-modified HT-PPAa film was significantly decreased, and the activation degree of the adhered platelets was also decreased. These data revealed that the blood compatibility of the polyallylamine film was improved after BSA immobilized. This work provides a facile and effective approach to develop novel surface treatment for new-generation blood-contact devices with improved hemocompatibility.
Keywords: BSA; blood compatibility; blood-contact devices; plasma polymerization; polyallylamine.