Codeposition of Polydopamine and Zwitterionic Polymer on Membrane Surface with Enhanced Stability and Antibiofouling Property

Abstract

Although abundant works have been developed in mussel-inspired antifouling coatings, most of them suffer from poor chemical stability, especially in a strongly alkaline environment. Herein, we report a robust one-step mussel-inspired method to construct a highly chemical stable and excellent antibiofouling membrane surface coating with a highly efficient codeposition of polydopamine (PDA) with zwitterionic polymer. In the study, PDA and polyethylenimine-quaternized derivative (PEI-S) are codeposited on the surface of poly(ether sulfone) (PES) ultrafiltration membrane in water at room temperature. In contrast to individual PDA coating, the obtained PDA/PEI-S coating exhibits excellent chemical stability even in a strongly alkaline environment owing to the cross-linking and unexpected cation-π interaction between the PEI-S and PDA. Thanks to the introduction of PEI-S, systematic protein adsorption tests and bacteria adhesion experiments demonstrated that the surfaces could prevent bovine serum fibrinogen and lysozyme adsorption and could reduce Gram-positive bacteria S. aureus and Gram-negative bacteria E. coli adhesion. Benefiting from the versatile functionality of PDA, the proposed strategy is not limited to PES membrane surface but also others such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) sheets and commercial polypropylene microfiltration membranes. Overall, this work enriches the exploration of a remarkable coating with enhanced stability and excellent antifouling property via a facile, robust, and material-independent approach to modifying the membrane surface.

Facile preparation of hierarchical porous polydopamine microspheres for rapid removal of chromate from the wastewater

“…Although alkaline desorption method has been commonly adopted for regenerating the Cr(VI)-adsorbed adsorbents, it was found that under strong alkaline conditions, PPMs will be aggregated, which result in low dispersibility and poor adsorption performance in the next adsorption cycle [51]. On the contrary, the regenerated PPMs via acidic condition demonstrate an outstanding dispersibility and maintain a good adsorption performance in the following cycles.…”

Efficient Drug Delivery Carrier Surface without Unwanted Adsorption Using Sulfobetaine Zwitterion

“…“Zwitterionization” is a technology that involves grafting a zwitterion on the surface of a nanoparticle; various studies have been conducted on field of drug delivery systems [ 8 ] and antibacterial surfaces. [ 20,21 ] A zwitterion contains both positive (PCG) and negatively charged groups (NCG), thus forming a water bonded hydration layer stronger than PEG due to electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding with H 2 O molecules at an internally balanced pH value (net‐charge close to zero). [ 22,23 ] Replacing the hydration layer formed on the particle by the formation of a “protein corona” through binding with a protein is energetically unfavorable; therefore, it can prevent nonspecific adsorption and aggregation of particles and can provide the particle with “stealth” function.…”

Zwitterionic Polymer‐Grafted Superhydrophilic and Superoleophobic Silk Fabrics for Anti‐Oil Applications

“…[ 14 ] Among all the approaches, surface coating of PDA is a very common strategy, and the PDA can be a versatile immobilization platform to covalently anchor another layer that can be a grafted superhydrophilic polymer chains or self‐assembled monolayer. [ 16,17 ]…”