Structure and blood compatibility of highly oriented poly(lactic acid)/thermoplastic polyurethane blends produced by solid hot stretching

Highly oriented poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) blends were fabricated through solid hot stretching technology in an effort to improve the mechanical properties and blood biocompatibility of PLA as blood‐contacting medical devices. It was found that the tensile strength and modulus of the blends can be improved dramatically by stretching. With the increase of draw ratio, the cold crystallization peak became smaller, and the glass transition and the melting peak moved to high temperature, while the crystallinity increased, and the grain size of PLA decreased, indicating of the stress‐induced crystallization during drawing. The oriented blends exhibited structures with longitudinal striations which indicate the presence of micro‐fibers. TPU phase was finely and homogeneously dispersed in the PLA, and after drawing, TPU domains were elongated to ellipsoid. The introduction of TPU and orientation could enhance the blood compatibility of PLA by prolonging kinetic clotting time, and decreasing hemolysis ratio and platelet activation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.