This study aims to hydrophilize thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) surface via selective segregation of amphiphilic block copolymers from bulk TPU matrix, namely “inverted grafting-to” approach. To this end, hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) polymer chain was employed in either diblock (polycaprolactone-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (PCL-b-PEG)) or triblock (poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(propylene glycol)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-b-PPO-b-PEG)) amphiphilic copolymer additives in polymer matrix. Greatly reduced water contact angles, as low as ca. 13°, from ≥90° for bare substrate proved the successful hydrophilization of TPU surface by this approach, although the degree of hydrophilization was significantly affected by the structure and concentration of embedded amphiphilic copolymers. Moreover, PEG-functionalized TPU surfaces in this approach displayed a reduction of coefficient of friction (COF) by two orders of magnitude. Given that TPU is a widely used material for urinary catheter or other medical devices, we demonstrated a first promising application as lubricious coating to TPU-based urinary catheter tubes.

本研究旨在通过从本体 TPU 基质中选择性分离两亲性嵌段共聚物，即“反向接枝”方法来亲水化热塑性聚氨酯 (TPU) 表面。为此，亲水性聚（乙二醇）（PEG）聚合物链用于二嵌段（聚己内酯-b-聚（乙二醇）（PCL- b- PEG））或三嵌段（聚（乙二醇）-b-聚(丙二醇)- b -聚(乙二醇) (PEG- b -PPO- b-PEG)) 聚合物基质中的两亲共聚物添加剂。大大降低水接触角，低至约。13°，从 ≥ 90° 对于裸基材证明了通过这种方法成功地对 TPU 表面进行了亲水化，尽管亲水化程度受到嵌入的两亲共聚物的结构和浓度的显着影响。此外，这种方法中 PEG 功能化的 TPU 表面显示摩擦系数 (COF) 降低了两个数量级。鉴于 TPU 是一种广泛用于导尿管或其他医疗器械的材料，我们展示了作为基于 TPU 的导尿管的润滑涂层的第一个有前景的应用。