Bioinspired Catecholic Copolymers for Antifouling Surface Coatings

Abstract

We report here a synthetic approach to prepare poly(methyl methacrylate)-polydopamine diblock (PMMA-PDA) and triblock (PDA-PMMA-PDA) copolymers combining mussel-inspired catecholic oxidative chemistry and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). These copolymers display very good solubility in a range of organic solvents and also a broad band photo absorbance that increases with increasing PDA content in the copolymer. Spin-cast thin films of the copolymer were stable in water and showed a sharp reduction (by up to 50%) in protein adsorption compared to those of neat PMMA. Also the peak decomposition temperature of the copolymers was up to 43°C higher than neat PMMA. The enhanced solvent processability, thermal stability and low protein adsorption characteristics of this copolymer makes it attractive for variety of applications including antifouling coatings on large surfaces such as ship hulls, buoys, and wave energy converters.

Chemistry of polydopamine analogues

“…For example, bromo‐substituted polymethacrylates were covalently linked to a growing PDA oligomer in a radical way. The procedure was quite different (dimethyl sulfoxide, benzoylperoxide, N , N , N ′, N ′, N ″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine, sodium carbonate) from usual polymerization conditions in PDA synthesis . The films exhibited enhanced solvent processability, thermal stability and a low adsorption of proteins and thus were claimed promising for antifouling coatings.…”

“…Oxidative polymerization of DA in the presence of other polymers without covalent linkage (top) and with covalent linkage (middle, bottom) …”

Rapidly-Deposited Polydopamine Coating via High Temperature and Vigorous Stirring: Formation, Characterization and Biofunctional Evaluation

“…Polydopamine possesses covalent and non-covalent bonding capabilities for a broad range of organic, inorganic and metallic substrates [2], harboring potential applications in the challenging field of antibacterial [3], antifungal [4], antifouling [5], [6], drug delivery vehicle [7], biosensor [8], cell culture [9], tissue engineering [10]–[12] and so on. However, to author's knowledge, dopamine solution is usually polymerized for at least several hours prior to surface modification/deposition.…”

Preparation of exfoliated montmorillonite nanocomposites with catechol/zwitterionic quaternized polymer for an antifouling coating

“…Protecting material surface from microbial attack by antifouling properties has been described for sustainability and adaptability. To evaluate the antifouling behavior, HeLa cells were cultured on PP and Si film uncoated and coated with the C/S)‐q‐PDMA, [(C/S)‐q‐PDMA]/MMT (1, 5 and 10 wt%) according to a previously reported method and observed through optical microscopy and SEM images . Cell attachment on PP film is presented in Fig.…”