Hemocompatibility of DLC coatings synthesized by ion beam assisted deposition

Ion beam-assisted diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings have been used for growing the human platelet, fibrinogen, and albumin in the control environment in order to assess their hemocom-patibility. The hard carbon films were prepared on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) at room temperature using ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD). Raman spectroscopic analysis proved that the carbon films on PMMA are diamond-like with a higher fraction of sp3 bonds in the structure of mixed sp2 + sp3 bonding. The blood protein adsorption tests showed that DLC coatings can adsorb more albumin and are slightly more fibrinogen than the PMMA chosen as a control sample. The platelets adhered on DLC coatings were reduced significantly in number. These results indicate good hemocompatibility of DLC coatings.