Synergistic anti-fouling and bactericidal poly(ether ether ketone) surfaces via a one-step photomodification

Abstract

Implants of poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) are gaining importance in surgical bone reconstruction of the skull. As with any implant material, PEEK is susceptible to bacterial contamination and occasionally PEEK implants were removed from patients because of infection.To address this problem, a combination of anti-fouling and bactericidal polymers are grafted onto PEEK. The originality is that anti-fouling (modified poly(ethylene glycol)) and bactericidal (quaternized poly(dimethylaminoethyl acrylate)) moieties are simultaneously and covalently grafted onto PEEK via UV photoinsertion. The functionalized PEEK surfaces are evaluated by water contact angle measurements, FTIR, XPS and AFM. Grafting of anti-fouling and bactericidal polymers significantly reduces Staphylococcus aureus adhesion on PEEK surfaces without exhibiting cytotoxicity in vitro. This study demonstrates that grafting combinations of anti-fouling and bactericidal polymers synergistically prevents bacterial adhesion on PEEK implants. This approach shows clinical relevance as grafting is rapid, does not modify PEEK properties and can be conducted on pre-formed implants.

Photografting Coating: An Innovative Approach to “Non‐Migratory” Active Packaging

“…[ 84 ] Therefore, various antifouling products have been developed, including marine, [ 85 ] biomedical, [ 86 ] and antimicrobial antifouling products. [ 87 ] In such a technology, the application of non‐toxic materials could be an emerging trend in packaging science. For example, during a global health crisis, such as the coronavirus (The COVID‐19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS‐CoV‐2).…”

“…As shown in Figure , a dual‐function antifouling/biocidal system was developed to minimize the microorganism attachment and enhance the elimination ability. [ 87 ] Briefly, the modified PEG (PEG‐XK)‐P(HPMA‐N3) and quaternized poly(dimethylaminoethyl acrylate) (P(qDMAEMA‐ co ‐APM)) were developed as antifouling and antimicrobial polymers, respectively. The mixture of the diblock copolymer, PEG‐XK‐P(HPMA‐N3), and the quaternized copolymer, P(qDMAEMA‐ co ‐APM), was coated onto the surface of poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK), followed by UV irradiation (30 s) to covalently immobilize the functional co‐polymers.…”

Biomaterial approaches for the treatment and prevention of orthopaedic infections

“…Hence, TC is rarely used anymore for antibacterial purposes and prescribed with care to children still undergoing dental development [43].…”

“…However The presence of organic solvents and their volatility were also observed to be detrimental to phage activity [42]. Because of these practical limitations in applying organic solvents, water-soluble biopolymers such as sodium alginate are frequently used for bacteriophage encapsulation [13,17,43]. could also prevent exposure of phages to organic solvents by adding them on poly(lactide-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) porous microspheres, which allowed the phage to be directly absorbed [44].…”

“…This protein absorption diminishes the anti-fouling potential of biomaterial coatings over time and facilitates further biofouling of cells and bacteria. In our in vitro set-up we tried to mimic physiological conditions by adding human plasma to a concentration of 2% v/v to the bacterial suspensions that were added to the PEEK implants, with significant reductions of bacterial fouling observed for the combined anti-fouling and bactericidal coating [43]. However, the protein concentration present in the murine subcutaneous environment is most likely higher than what was used in the in vitro experiment.…”