A Potential Nonthrombogenic Small-Diameter Vascular Scaffold with Polyurethane/Poly(ethylene glycol) Hybrid Materials by Electrospinning Technique

A small-diameter vascular graft (inner diameter 4 mm) was fabricated from polyurethane (PU) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) solutions by electrospinning technology. The fiber diameter decreased from 1023 +/- 185 nm to 394 +/- 106 nm with increasing weight ratio of PEG in electrospinning solutions. The PU/PEG scaffolds showed randomly nanofibrous morphology and well-interconnected porous structure. The hydrophilicity of these scaffolds was improved significantly with increasing weight ratio of PEG. The mechanical properties of electrospun PU/PEG scaffolds were obviously different from that of pure PU scaffold, which was caused by plasticizing or hardening effect imparted by PEG composition. Under hydrated state, the PU/PEG scaffolds demonstrated low mechanical performance due to the hydrophilic property of materials. Compared with dry PU/PEG scaffolds with the same weight ratio of PEG, the tensile strength and elastic modulus of hydrated PU/PEG scaffolds decreased significantly, while the elongation at break increased. The results demonstrated that the electrospun PU/PEG hybrid tubular scaffolds are potential candidates for artificial blood vessels.