ATR-FTIR as a thickness measurement technique for hydrated polymer-on-polymer coatings

Hydrated polymer coatings on polymer substrates are common for many biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering constructs, contact lenses, and catheters. The thickness of the coatings can affect the mechanical behavior of the systems and the cellular response, but measuring the coating thickness can be quite challenging using conventional methods. We propose a new method, that is, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) to determine the relative thickness, combined with atomic force microscopy to calibrate the ATR-FTIR measurements. This technique was successfully employed to determine the hydrated thickness of a series of crosslinked tetraglyme coatings on ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene substrates intended to reduce wear of acetabular cups in total hip replacements. The hydrated coatings ranged from 30 to 200 nm thick and were accurately measured despite the relatively high root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of the substrates, 20-35 nm (peak-to-peak roughness 55-100 nm). The calibrated ATR-FTIR technique is a promising new method for measuring the thickness of many other polymer-on-polymer and hydrated coatings.