Characterization and plasma protein binding studies of surface-modified polyethersulfone

Polyethersulfone (PES) has been adopted as a biomaterial for the fabrication of membranes used in medical applications. As a biomaterial its surface will influence protein and cell interactions, which defines in part the ultimate success or failure of implanted devices.; In the present work, the surface of films are modified utilizing fluorinated surface modifying macromolecules (SMMs) in order to alter protein interactions, which lead to the generation of platelet activation. SMMs containing four chemical compositions were synthesized and characterized for elemental analysis and molecular weight.; PES and PES/SMM films were characterized for surface morphology (using microscopy techniques) and surface composition (using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS)), and then were compared with PES surfaces. Microscopy studies showed distinct phase morphologies for SMM/PES membranes relative to the PES controls. XPS and SIMS confirmed the presence of fluorine groups at the surface. Water droplet contact angle measurements for the mixture of SMM with PES blends indicated that the surfaces became more hydrophobic after adding the SMMs.; Plasma protein binding studies indicated that PES blended with a propylene oxide based SMM was the material that adsorbed the least amount of proteins relative the other PES/SMM and non-modified PES membrane materials. It is suggested that the chemical nature of the SMM's central segment bad an important influence on plasma protein adsorption.