Abstract
Zwitterionic polymers are suitable for replacing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) polymers because of their better antifouling properties, but zwitterionic polymers have poor mechanical properties, strong water absorption, and their homopolymers should not be used directly. To solve these problems, a reversible-addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization process was used to prepare copolymers comprised of zwitterionic side chains that were attached to an ITO glass substrate using spin-casting. The presence of 4-vinylpyridine (4VP) and zwitterion chains on these polymer-coated ITO surfaces was confirmed using 1H NMR, FTIR, and GPC analyses, with successful surface functionalization confirmed using water contact angle, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies. Changes in water contact angles and C/O ratios (XPS) analysis demonstrated that the functionalization of these polymers with β-propiolactone resulted in hydrophilic mixed 4VP/zwitterionic polymers. Protein adsorption and cell attachment assays were used to optimize the ratio of the zwitterionic component to maximize the antifouling properties of the polymer brush surface. This work demonstrated that the antifouling surface coatings could be readily prepared using a “P4VP-modified” method, that is, the functionality of P4VP to modify the prepared zwitterionic polymer. We believe these materials are likely to be useful for the preparation of biomaterials for biosensing and diagnostic applications.
Highlights
Biological pollution [1,2,3,4], which is affected by the adsorption and aggregation of proteins, microorganisms, and bacteria on the surface of materials, is a problem that is often encountered in the field of medical diagnostics, medical transplantation, and dock materials
The antifouling performance of zwitterionic polymers where their resistantance to nonspecific protein adhesion, microbial/bacterial adsorption, and biofilm formation, can allow them to effectively avoid bacteria adhering on their surfaces, due to their high water solubility and certain hydrolysis properties, the film formation of these kinds of polymers is poor, which greatly limits the application of zwitterionic membranes in antifouling films [21,22]
We introduced the bio-inert poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) to modify zwitterionic polymers for the preparation of biofilms
Summary
Biological pollution [1,2,3,4], which is affected by the adsorption and aggregation of proteins, microorganisms, and bacteria on the surface of materials, is a problem that is often encountered in the field of medical diagnostics, medical transplantation, and dock materials. Zwitterionic polymers generally exhibit better nonfouling performance than PEG polymers [14], with zwitterionic polymers shown to exhibit outstanding resistance against protein and cell adsorption in numerous biological systems. The antifouling performance of zwitterionic polymers where their resistantance to nonspecific protein adhesion, microbial/bacterial adsorption, and biofilm formation, can allow them to effectively avoid bacteria adhering on their surfaces, due to their high water solubility and certain hydrolysis properties, the film formation of these kinds of polymers is poor, which greatly limits the application of zwitterionic membranes in antifouling films [21,22]. Our group used spin-casting processes to attach asymmetric amphiphilic PEG/polystyrene(PS) polymer brush coatings to solid surfaces These PEG/PS polymers exhibited good nonfouling properties; further optimization is required to broaden the range of antifouling properties of these polymers. This paper uses the functionality of P4VP to modify the prepared zwitterionic polymers, and optimize the biofouling performance of the film by regulating the degree of polymerization and modification ratio
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