Mechanical and antithrombogenic properties of 2-methoxyethyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate triblock copolymers

Poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) (PMEA) is a promising material that can be used for biomedical devices due to its excellent antithrombogenicity, inhibiting the adhesion of platelets. PMEA is, however, a liquid-like polymer which cannot be used as a solid material. Thus triblock copolymerization with a rigid polymer could be an effective way to solidify the liquid-like PMEA. In this study, we synthesized methyl methacrylate (MMA)-b-2-methoxyethyl acrylate (MEA)-b-MMA triblock copolymers with different volume fractions of the MMA blocks (f_MMA). We investigated the mechanical properties and the antithrombogenicity. The molecular weight of the triblock copolymers were analyzed by NMR. It was confirmed that the f_MMA could be successfully controlled and the mechanical properties of the triblock copolymers could change from rigid to elastic by varying the f_MMA. The triblock copolymers with the f_MMA below 0.4 presented an excellent antithrombogenicity similar to that of PMEA homopolymer. The triblock copolymer could be a great candidate as a new material for biomedical applications such as vascular grafts.