G0400303 Blood compatibility of a-BC:H films prepared by pulsed plasma CVD

Abstract

a-BC:H films with different boron/carbon ratio were fabricated on TiNb substrates at room temperature by pulsed plasma CVD. The boron/carbon ratio in the films was varied from 0 to 0.4 by controlling the flow rate of B(CH_3)_3 in the reaction gas mixture with C_2H_2. a-BC:H films with 0.03 and 0.4 exhibit high hydrophilicity surface due to their high wettability and high surface energy. Platelet adhesion experiment in vitro was conducted in order to understand the effect of boron on the blood compatibility properties of a-BC:H films compared to TiNb substrate as well as conventional DLC. The results showed that DLC and a-BC:H films can prevent higher platelet adhesion on TiNb substrates. a-BC:H films with lower boron content (0.03 B/C ratio) lowest platelet adhesion and activation because few platelets are present. This result indicates that 0.03 is the optimum boron/carbon ratio for developing anti-thrombogenic surface. The synthesized a-BC:H films appear to be promising surface modification for blood-contacting devices.