Polyelectrolytes have many important functions in both living organisms and man-made applications. One key property of polyelectrolytes is the ionic conductivity due to their porous networks that allow the transport of water and small molecular solutes. Among polyelectrolytes, zwitterionic polymers have attracted huge attention for applications that involve ion transport in a polyelectrolyte matrix; however, it is still unclear how the functional groups of zwitterionic polymer side chains affect their ion transport and swelling properties. In this study, zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine acrylamide), poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine), and poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) hydrogels were synthesized and their ionic conductivity was studied and compared to cationic, anionic, and nonionic hydrogels. The change of the ionic conductivity of zwitterionic and nonionic hydrogels in different saline solutions was investigated in detail. Zwitterionic hydrogels showed much higher ionic conductivity than that of the widely used nonionic poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate hydrogel in all tested solutions. For both cationic and anionic hydrogels, the presence of mobile counterions led to high ionic conductivity in low salt solutions; however, the ionic conductivity of zwitterionic hydrogels surpassed that of cationic and ionic hydrogels in high salt solutions. Cationic and anionic hydrogels showed much higher water content than that of zwitterionic hydrogels in deionized water; however, the cationic hydrogels shrank significantly with increasing saline concentration. This work provides insight into the effects of polyelectrolyte side chains on ion transport. This can guide us in choosing better polyelectrolytes for a broad spectrum of applications, including bioelectronics, neural implants, battery, and so on.

A zwitterionic poly(sulfobetaine-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PSBEDOT)-based glucose biosensor was fabricated via encapsulating glucose oxidase (GOx) in a one-step electropolymerization method.

To address the lack of blood compatibility and antifouling properties of polyurethanes (PUs), a novel zwitterionic poly­(carboxybetaine urethane) (PCBHU) platform with excellent antifouling and tunable mechanical properties is presented. PCBHU was synthesized via the condensation polymerization of diisocyanate with carboxybetaine (CB)-based triols. Postpolymerization hydrolysis of triol segments at the interface generates zwitterionic CB functional groups that provide superior antifouling properties via the enhanced hydration capacities of CB groups. Thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry measurement show the high thermal stability of PCBHU with up to 305 °C degradation temperature. Tunable mechanical properties and water uptakes can be finely tuned by controlling the structure and ratio of CB-based triol cross-linkers. This study presents a new strategy to incorporate CB functional groups into PU without significantly changing the synthetic methods and conditions of PU. It also provides a deeper understanding on structure–property relationships of zwitterionic PUs. Because of its superior antifouling properties than existing PUs and similar cost, mechanical properties, stability, and processability, PCBHU has the great potential to replace current PUs and may open a new avenue to PUs for more challenging biomedical applications in which the existing PUs are limited by calcification and poor antifouling properties.

This work reports a study of electropolymerization kinetics, film thickness, stability, and antifouling properties of polydopamine (PDA) and its three analogues: poly(3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-l-alanine) (PL-DOPA), poly(5-hydroxytryptophan) (PL-5-HTP), and poly(Adrenalin) (PAdrenalin). It was observed that the number of the hydroxyl groups on the benzene ring and the type (primary vs secondary) of amine group significantly affect the electropolymerization kinetics and thus the thickness of the obtained polymer films. Monomers with two hydroxyl groups (except Adrenalin) resulted in films that were thicker (∼10-15 nm) than the one with only one hydroxyl group (PL-5-HTP) (∼5-8 nm) under similar conditions. Adrenalin containing a secondary amino group could not be deposited onto the ITO substrate, while the other three compounds containing a primary amino group completely covered the ITO. The PDA films had better electrochemical stability than the other films. No film showed stable antifouling surfaces against protein.