The influence of isocyanurate content on the bioperformance of hydrocarbon-based polyurethanes

Abstract

Bulk, surface and bioactivity of newly synthesized hydroxy telechelic polyisoprene-based (H-HTPI) polyurethane were investigated by means of ATR-FT-IR, contact-angle measurements, cell viability, calcification, and platelet and fibrinogen quantification. The influence of isophorone diisocyanates isocyanurate (I-IPDI) content on these properties was determined. Results generally showed a non-significant difference in these properties when they were compared with a commercially available biomedical polyurethane (PU), such as Tecoflex. Unexpectedly, where the increase of isocyanate content for commercial diisocyanate-based biocompatible PU significantly increases the surface contact angle, the new hydroxy telechelic polyisoprene-based PU showed a decrease of water contact angle with increasing I-IPDI content in the polymer. Nevertheless, the overall surface exhibited hydrophobic properties, i.e., theta > 85. Polymer cytotoxicity, assessed with L929 cell line in direct contact with the surface of the samples, showed no toxic effects on the cells. Interestingly, regardless of the I-IPDI content, platelet adhesion and fibrinogen adsorption, as well as the mineral deposition were fairly similar for all synthesized PUs. Our findings revealed that replacing diisocyanates by their isocyanurate homologues is a very relevant approach for preparation of polyurethanes with different mechanical properties while maintaining similar surface properties.

Structural, thermal and surface characterization of thermoplastic polyurethanes based on poly(dimethylsiloxane)

“…According to the literature, the type of SS, chemical composition, surface hydrophilicity, degree of crystallinity, and surface topography have great effects on the biocompatibility of TPUs. [22][23][24][25][26] Recently, an extensive study was published on the thermal, mechanical, surface, and biocompatibility properties of a series of TPUs based on poly(ε-caprolactone)-b-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL-PDMS-PCL) as soft segments with different hard segment contents. 27 The synthesized samples were double crystalline block-copolymers in which both hard and soft segments were crystallized.…”

Poly(urethane-isocyanurate) networks: Synthesis, properties and applications

“…Generally speaking, PUs are considered high-performance materials, well-known for their excellent mechanical, optical, chemical and biomedical properties. 55 These include high ultimate tensile strengths and high toughness values 56 , high transparency and low coloration, high chemical and thermal resistance and good biocompatibility 57 . Compared to other types of polymer networks (e.g.…”