Fabrication of Functional Wrinkled Interfaces from Polymer Blends: Role of the Surface Functionality on the Bacterial Adhesion

Abstract

Abstract:The generation of nano-microstructured surfaces is a current challenge in polymer science. The fabrication of such surfaces has been accomplished mainly following two different alternatives i.e., by adapting techniques, such as molding (embossing) or nano/microimprinting, or by developing novel techniques including laser ablation, soft lithography or laser scanning. Surface instabilities have been recently highlighted as a promising alternative to induce surface features. In particular, wrinkles have been extensively explored for this purpose. Herein, we describe the preparation of wrinkled interfaces by confining a photosensitive monomeric mixture composed of monofunctional monomer and a crosslinking agent within a substrate and a cover. The wrinkle characteristics can be controlled by the monomer mixture and the experimental conditions employed for the photopolymerization. More interestingly, incorporation within the material of a functional copolymer allowed us to vary the surface chemical composition while maintaining the surface structure. For that purpose we incorporated either a fluorinated copolymer that enhanced the surface hydrophobicity of the wrinkled interface or an acrylic acid containing copolymer OPEN ACCESSPolymers 2014, 6 2846 that increased the hydrophilicity of the wrinkled surface. Finally, the role of the hydrophobicity on the bacterial surface adhesion will be tested by using Staphylococcus aureus.

Wrinkling on Stimuli-Responsive Functional Polymer Surfaces as a Promising Strategy for the Preparation of Effective Antibacterial/Antibiofouling Surfaces

“…Palacio-Cuesta et al [ 55 ] studied the variation of the contact angle as a function of the wt% of copolymer poly (MMA- co -AA) in flat and wrinkled surfaces. Thus, the planar surface slightly decreases the contact angle in comparison with wrinkles surfaces.…”

A novel block copolymer with excellent amphiphobicity synthesized via ARGET ATRP

“…Figure showed the AFM phase images of diblock copolymer PMMA 103 ‐b‐ PC 6 SMA x films and random copolymer PMMA ‐co‐ PC 6 SMA (33.48%, by mole ratio) film. In the test area size of 500 × 500 nm 2 , the dark area in the images represents the soft segments of PMMA domain and the bright area demonstrates the aggregation of fluorinated chains with high glass transition temperature and low crystallinity . There was no obvious phase separation on the random copolymer as the mole content of C 6 SMA was about 33.48%.…”

In Vitro Evaluation of Essential Mechanical Properties and Cell Behaviors of a Novel Polylactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA)-Based Tubular Scaffold for Small-Diameter Vascular Tissue Engineering

“…A number of published reports have employed rolling-based manufacture of three dimensional (3D) tubular structure from two dimensional (2D) films [ 24 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. It is worth mentioning that, rolling 2D film into 3D structures has the intrinsic advantage that we can modify or pattern the film very conveniently with cells, molecules, and/or nanoparticles because of the booming development of various patterning techniques on 2D substrates, which may favor their future applications [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Therefore, besides the rapidness, flexibility and simplicity, simple and controlled modification of cells or other components in the specific location in 3D structures is one of the most important features of our method.…”