Polyethylene glycol (PEG) grafting has a great potential to create nonfouling and nonthrombogenic surfaces, but present techniques lack versatility and stability. The present work aimed to develop a versatile PEG grafting method applicable to most biomaterial surfaces, by taking advantage of novel primary amine-rich plasma-polymerized coatings. Star-shaped PEG covalent binding was studied using static contact angle, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). Fluorescence and QCM-D both confirmed strong reduction of protein adsorption when compared to plasma-polymerized coatings and pristine poly(ethyleneterephthalate) (PET). Moreover, almost no platelet adhesion was observed after 15 min perfusion in whole blood. Altogether, our results suggest that primary amine-rich plasma-polymerized coatings offer a promising stable and versatile method for PEG grafting in order to create nonfouling and nonthrombogenic surfaces and micropatterns.

Plasma polymerized coatings (PP) are increasingly used for biomedical applications in contact with body fluids. We optimized and studied the stability, mechanical properties, and adhesion in air and aqueous media of amine (NH 2 )-rich PP in low-pressure r.f. plasma from [NH 3 /C 2 H 4 ] mixtures (L-PPE:N). Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) revealed partial dissolution or water-uptake (swelling) in real-time in various solutions, which helped identify the best gas mixture ratio for compromise between stability and high concentration of (NH 2 ) groups. Nanoindention revealed strong decrease of Young's modulus and hardness in water. Finally, a Cross-Hatch peel test was used to optimize L-PPE:N adhesion on poly-(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE): plasma pre-treatment prevented both dry and wet delamination.