Abstract

Nowadays permanent metallic cardiovascular stents are long-term implants. The long-time presence of such an implant in human body can cause overgrowth of tissue within the treated portion of the vessel, blockage of the circulatory system and many other clinical complications, such as thrombosis, prolonged physical irritations or chronic inflammation. Therefore, in recent years, there is an interest to create biodegradable metallic cardiovascular stents. The materials for this purpose are active/oxidizable metals and their degradation is based on their progressive corrosion. One interesting metal for this application is iron. However, in order to use iron in clinical applications, its degradation rate and biological performance need to be optimized. A promising solution, proposed within the PhD project, is to modify the surface of the metal with conducting polymer film. Therefore, the main aim of the work is to investigate the conditions of the synthesis and degradation of polypyrrole (PPy) coated iron for use of the biodegradable cardiovascular metallic stent. The studies include: • Optimization procedure for corrosion resistance, surface analysis and electrical properties of PPy/Fe electrosynthesized in aqueous solution of pyrrole and sodium salicylate • Investigation of the electrochemical activity vs electrical properties of PPy/Fe material • Study of the electrochemical stability of PPy/Fe in aqueous solution of sodium salicylate • Investigation of the electrochemical synthesis of PPy on iron in aqueous solution of pyrrole and sodium salicylate studied in-situ by odd random phase electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. • Studies of the influence of the electropolymerization temperature on corrosion, morphological and electrical properties of polypyrrole film coated iron investigated in phosphate buffer saline solution at 37 °C • Degradation study of polypyrrole coated iron investigated by odd random phase electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in phosphate buffer saline solution at 37 °C The work presents the possibility of using PPy as coating on iron for possible medical applications. The performed electrochemical studies on PPy/Fe allows for detailed and reliable analysis of the material. The results obtained within the work open up new possibilities for PPy functional applications.

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