Fibrillation of chain branched poly (lactic acid) with improved blood compatibility and bionic structure

Abstract

Highly-oriented poly (lactic acid) (PLA) with bionic fibrillar structure and micro-grooves was fabricated through solid hot drawing technology for further improving the mechanical properties and blood biocompatibility of PLA as blood-contacting medical devices. In order to enhance the melt strength and thus obtain high orientation degree, PLA was first chain branched with pentaerythritol polyglycidyl ether (PGE). The branching degree as high as 12.69 mol% can be obtained at 0.5 wt% PGE content. The complex viscosity, elastic and viscous modulus for chain branched PLA were improved resulting from the enhancement of molecular entanglement, and consequently higher draw ratio can be achieved during the subsequent hot stretching. The stress-induced crystallization of PLA occurred during stretching, and the crystal structure of the oriented PLA can be attributed to the α′ crystalline form. The tensile strength and modulus of PLA were improved dramatically by drawing. Chain branching and orientation could significantly enhance the blood compatibility of PLA by prolonging clotting time and decreasing hemolysis ratio, protein adsorption and platelet activation. Fibrous structure as well as micro-grooves can be observed for the oriented PLA which were similar to intimal layer of blood vessel, and this bionic structure was considered to be beneficial to decrease the activation and/or adhesion of platelets.