Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18(8), 1422; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18081422
Impact of the Hydration States of Polymers on Their Hemocompatibility for Medical Applications: A Review
Min A. Bag 1 and Loreto M. Valenzuela 1,2,3,*
1
Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile
2
Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering, Schools of Engineering, Medicine and Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile
3
Research Center for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials “CIEN-UC”, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 13 May 2017 / Revised: 27 June 2017 / Accepted: 27 June 2017 / Published: 3 August 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodegradable Materials 2017)
Abstract
Water has a key role in the functioning of all biological systems, it mediates many biochemical reactions, as well as other biological activities such as material biocompatibility. Water is often considered as an inert solvent, however at the molecular level, it shows different behavior when sorbed onto surfaces like polymeric implants. Three states of water have been recognized: non-freezable water, which does not freeze even at −100 °C; intermediate water, which freezes below 0 °C; and, free water, which freezes at 0 °C like bulk water. This review describes the different states of water and the techniques for their identification and quantification, and analyzes their relationship with hemocompatibility in polymer surfaces. Intermediate water content higher than 3 wt % is related to better hemocompatibility for poly(ethylene glycol), poly(meth)acrylates, aliphatic carbonyls, and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) surfaces. Therefore, characterizing water states in addition to water content is key for polymer selection and material design for medical applications. View Full-TextKeywords:
intermediate water; non-freezable water; free water; water structure; platelet adhesion; fibrinogen adsorption
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
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Bag, M.A.; Valenzuela, L.M. Impact of the Hydration States of Polymers on Their Hemocompatibility for Medical Applications: A Review. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18, 1422.
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