Polyoxazolines for Nonfouling Surface Coatings — A Direct Comparison to the Gold Standard PEG

Abstract

The prevention of surface fouling is becoming increasingly important for the development of anti-infective medical implants, biosensors with improved signal-to-noise ratios, and low-fouling membranes to name a few examples. We review a direct comparison of poly(ethylene glycol), the gold standard polymer to impart surfaces with nonfouling properties, to an alternative polymer, poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) (PMOXA), and show that both polymers are equally excellent in rendering surfaces nonfouling while PMOXA coatings are more stable in oxidative environments. We discuss prerequisites for the fabrication of nonfouling surface coatings and implications for the polymer choice according to application requirements.

Highly transparent poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)-TiO2nanocomposite coatings for the conservation of matte painted artworks

“…A conventional radical mechanism promotes the hydroperoxidation of the carbon α to the nitrogen. No experimental results favour the break between the nitrogen and the carbonyl and, in that case, shorter UV wavelengths (λ< 300 nm -UV-B region) are required [46][47][48] . Moreover, the attack on other carbons could not be completely ruled out.…”

Modulation of the stemness and osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells by controlling RGD concentrations of poly(carboxybetaine) hydrogel

“…Therefore, a nonfouling substrate is needed to study the effect of a specific bio-signal on cell behaviors. Several low-fouling materials, such as poly(ethylene glycol), polyacrylamide, and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), have been used as substrates for investigation of cell responses to surfaceconjugated peptides [33][34][35][36]. A family of ultra-low fouling materials, zwitterionic polymers, has recently attracted much attention for their superior anti-fouling properties [37][38].…”

Plasma polymerised polyoxazoline thin films for biomedical applications

“…Currently however, POx immobilisation onto surfaces is a tedious multistep process, in which oxazoline monomers are initially polymerised in bulk solution before the resultant polymer can be grafted to a limited selection of substrate materials using processes such as spin coating 5 , grafting to 6 , grafting from, photopolymerisation 7 and electrostatic interactions 8 . Overall, POx coatings generated by these methods have demonstrated good stability and low fouling properties where the nature of the monomer used and in turn the wettability of the coatings tends to control the interaction with proteins 7-8 , eukaryotic cells 5,9 , and bacteria 10 . A comparative review of the antifouling properties of PEG and POx coatings by Konradi et al 10 states that despite differences in surface architectures and test conditions within the literature, both surface types are typically equally effective in respect to antifouling ability.…”