Metallic intravascular stents are medical devices (316L stainless steel) used to support the narrowed lumen of atherosclerotic stenosed arteries. Despite the success of bare metal stents, restenosis remains the main complication after 3–6 months of implantation. To reduce the restenosis rate of bare metal stents, stent coating is an interesting alternative. Firstly, it allows the modification of the surface properties, which is in contact with the biological environment. Secondly, the coating could eventually act as a carrier for drug immobilization and release. Moreover, the in vivo stent implantation requires in situ stent expansion. This mandatory step generates local plastic deformation of up to 25% and may cause coating failures such as cracking and delamination. Fluorocarbon films were selected in this study as a potential stent coating, mainly due to their chemical inertness, high hydrophobicity, protein retention capabilities and thromboresistance properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the adhesion properties of fluorocarbon films of three different thicknesses deposited by plasma polymerization in C2F6/H2 on 316L stainless steel substrates. A previously developed small punch test was used to deform the coated samples. According to atomic force microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterizations, among the coatings with different thicknesses studied, only those with a thickness of 36 nm exhibited the required cohesion and interfacial adhesion to resist the stent expansion without cracking or delaminating. Otherwise, cracks were detected in the coatings having thicknesses equal or superior to 100 nm, indicating a lack of cohesion.

Fluoropolymer plasma coatings have been investigated for application as stent coatings due to their chemical stability, conformability, and hydrophobic properties. The challenge resides in the capacity for these coatings to remain adherent, stable, and cohesive after the in vivo stent expansion, which can generate local plastic deformation of up to 25%. Plasma-coated samples have been prepared by a multistep process on 316L stainless steel substrates, and some coated samples were plastically deformed to mimic a stent expansion. Analyses were then performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray photoelectron emission microscopy (X-PEEM), and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) to determine the chemical and physical effects of such a deformation on both the coating and the interfacial region. While XPS analyses always showed a continuous coating with no significant effect of the deformation, TOF-SIMS and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (derived from X-PEEM) data indicated the presence of a certain density of porosity and pinholes in all coatings as well as sparse fissures and molecular fragmentation in the deformed ones. The smallness of the area fraction affected by the defects and the subtlety of the chemical changes could only be evidenced through the higher chemical sensitivity of these latter techniques.

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Plasma fluorocarbon films deposited on 316L stainless steel have shown promising adhesion properties as potential stent coatings. However, further analyses revealed the occurrence of nano‐defects, which led to water infiltration and delamination. Plasma etchings with two different gases, C2F6 and H2, were applied prior to the coating deposition in order to etch the oxide layer of the stainless steel and to create activated sites on the surface to promote the polymerization. Surfaces and thin layers were analyzed by atomic force microscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, time of flight‐secondary ion mass spectrometry, fourier‐transform infra‐red spectroscopy, and near edge X‐ray absorption fine structure to study the film growth mechanism. Hydrogen etchings demonstrated to play a crucial role in the first step of the fluorocarbon growth through the formation of hydroxides at the stainless steel surface, which served as initiator during plasma polymerization.