Quick and simple modification of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) surface by optimized molecular design of the anti-biofouling phospholipid copolymer

Changes in the Properties and Self‐Healing Behaviors of Zwitterionic Nanocomposite Gels Across Their UCST Transition

“…[6][7][8][9] Among the three kinds of zwitterionic betaine polymers, namely, sulfobetaine, [10][11][12] carboxybetaine, [13][14][15] and phosphobetaine polymers, [16,17] only sulfobetaine polymers show a thermoresponsive phase transition with an upper critical solution temperature (UCST). [10,18,19] Sulfobetaine polymers with a cationic quaternary ammonium group (N þ R 4 ) and an anionic sulfonate group (SO 3 À ) in the side chain adopt expanded conformations in water (transparent solutions) at temperatures higher than the UCST, while the polymer conformation collapses (turbid solution) at temperature below the UCST.…”

Surface modification of silicone via colloidal deposition of amphiphilic block copolymers

“…We have employed ethanol-water dispersions: ethanol has already been used to deposit block copolymers on silicone 20 and we hypothesized that its combination with water would allow at the same time for a thermodynamic driving force (the high surface energy of silicone in water being reduced by coating) and for kinetically favourable conditions (increased solubility of polymers in the medium leading to accelerated deposition). It is worth mentioning that deposition from pure water did not appear to have much success.…”

“…the minimization of PDMS surface energy through a phase-segregated hydrophilic layer, amphiphilic polymers may be deposited only on the surface, thus avoiding the long-range morphological changes of a swelling-deswelling process. 13,20 A well-known example of the latter approach is the adsorption of pluronic polymers from micellar dispersions, which has been applied to a variety of hydrophobic surfaces 34,35 and, in particular, has been shown to increase the surface lubricity of silicone in a water environment. 36 Here, we have followed the same general approach, employing ABA amphiphilic triblock copolymers; in order to increase the stability of the surface anchorage we have used PDMS as the central hydrophobic block, while using PGMMA for the terminal blocks.…”

“…(surface initiated polymerization) 12,14,16,18,[20][21][22][23] reactive ( polar) groups on the PDMS surface, whose reproducibility is typically marred by phenomena of hydrophobic recovery, 31,32 with the migration of the polar groups into the PDMS bulk. Physical methods offer milder and less laborious conditions; some of them involve components that migrate to the surface or to the bulk depending on the exposure of the material to water or air, e.g.…”

“…9,10 Alternatively, the biomaterial can be modified only at its surface, without altering its bulk properties. For example, protein-repellent and biocompatible groups have been introduced on PDMS surfaces with a number of macromolecular structures, which include poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine), [18][19][20] poly(3-sulfopropyl methacrylate), 21 poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) 22 and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate). 23 Here, we have focused on a different hydrophilic structure that provides the advantageous combination of abundance of groups for chemical functionalization and the potential of a "stealth" behaviour: poly(2,3-dihydroxypropyl methacrylate), more commonly referred to as poly(glycerol monomethacrylate) (PGMMA), which features two vicinal alcohols on each repeating unit.…”