Superhemophobic Surfaces with Improved Hemocompatibility

One strategy that has been recently receiving attention is improving hemocompatibility (e.g., reduced platelet adhesion and activation) by employing superhydrophobic surfaces (i.e., surfaces that are extremely repellent to water).  Superhydrophobic surfaces display very high contact angles, typically >150° and very low roll off angles (i.e., the minimum angle by which the surface must be tilted relative to the horizontal for the droplet to roll off), typically <10° with water (a liquid with high surface tension, γ_lv=72.1 mN m⁻¹). However, superhydrophobic surfaces may not display high contact angles and more importantly very low roll off angles with blood (a liquid with relatively lower surface tension, γ_lv≈56 mN m⁻¹).  While there are a few studies investigating the hemocompatibility of superhydrophobic titania surfaces, it is not clear from the reports whether they are superhemophobic or not.

Accordingly, the fabrication of improved hemocompatible, superhemophobic medical implants would be beneficial to the medical field.