## 1 Introduction  
Valux heart disease is a major cause of disability and premature mortality worldwide [1]. Clinically moderate or severe valvular heart disease will double before 2050 from 1.5 million in 2015 to 3.3 million in 2056 [2] resulting in a sharp increase of heart valve replacements, either surgical or transcatheter. To date, damaged native valves are replaced with mechanical and tissue heart valves. However, neither mechanical nor tissue prostheses are ideal [3,4]. Their implantation is associated with reduced quality of life. Mechanical prostheses require life-long anticoagulation therapy and are associated with a substantially high risk of bleedings [5]. Tissue heart valves are susceptible to calcification and degeneration resulting in the structural failure, requiring repeat surgery [6,7]. Numerous approaches have been proposed to solve the existing problem and develop a durable heart valve: tissue-engineering and hybrid materials [8, 9, 10], novel shape memory designs and magnetically triggered devices [11], bioinert ceramics [12], and polymeric materials with enhanced properties [13, 14, 15]. Tissue-engineered heart valves strive to overcome the limitations of mechanical and bioprosthetic valves, because they are living tissues capable of active remodeling and self-repair [16]. However, more studies are required to determine the optimal composition, manufacturing technique, and biofunctionalization of the selected scaffolds [17]. Functional properties of mechanical heart valves may be addressed by additional coatings able to change the roughness and wettability of the product and control the resultant hemocompatibility and biocompatibility [18,19]. Promising results have been shown by [PERSON] et al. who reported zirconia material to possess optimal properties for biofilm formation [20]. Though the data were presented for dental implants, they seem to be promising for developing artificial heart valve. Recent advances in polymer synthesis and processing have opened new fronts for developing novel materials with unique morphology, mechanical, and physical properties. The ability to control the material properties has given the light to develop medical devices of given patterns to address compelling needs of various medical fields, including cardiothoracic surgery [21,22]. Thus, superior polymeric materials may ensure the development of artificial heart valves able to replicate native valve function and overcome major limitations of commercially available prostheses [23]. Optimal polymeric heart valves should combine the main advantages of tissue and mechanical heart valve prostheses. Despite that the concept of the polymeric heart valve is not new and dates back to the 1950s, it has been put forward again with technologically advanced polymer synthesis and processing. The variety of polymers was used to design optimal flexible leaflets: polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE and ePTFE) [24,25], silicone [26], polyurethanes [27], three-dimensionally cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol [28], POSS-PCU nanocomposite [29], copolymers based on styrene and isobutyene (SIBS) [30], and others. However, almost all of them have several drawbacks limiting them from successful clinical introduction. Poly (Styrene-_block_-IsoButylene-_block_-Styrene) (SIBS) is a biostable thermoplastic elastomer with physical properties that overlap silicone rubber and polyurethane [31]. It was first developed in the Akron University, Ohio, USA in the late 1990s and was commercialized by Boston Scientific Corporation's (BSC; Natick, MA, USA) in 2002. The development of the Drug Eluting TAXUS Coronary Stent reduced the rate of the bypass procedures with the subsequently improved rate of complications. Spurred by superior TAXUS results, Innovia LLC started working on its application for manufacturing polymeric heart valve able to mimic native valve and fully replicate its function. Original SIBS was reported to be highly hemocompatible material, but its poor physical properties forwarded the research groups towards its reinforcement. [PERSON] et al.