Cell attachment and proliferation on poly(carbonate urethanes) with various degrees of nanophase separation

In this work, we synthesized six 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI)-based poly(carbonate urethanes) (PCU) by using the macrodiol poly(1,6-hexyl, 1,2-ethyl carbonate) diol (MW = 2,017) in different molar ratios to MDI. The bulk and surface properties of cast PCU films were analyzed. The glass transition temperatures measured by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and surface images obtained from atomic force microscopy (AFM) indicated that these PCU had various degrees of nanophase separation that changed with the time and film casting temperatures. The degree of nanophase separation correlated very well with endothelial cell attachment and proliferation on PCU.