Smart Copolymer Surface Derived from Geminized Cationic Amphiphilic Polymers for Reversibly Switchable Bactericidal and Self-Cleaning Abilities

• Published in: Langmuir 2023-08, Vol.39 (30), p.10521-10529
• Main Authors: Chen, Ting, Situ, Chaoyi, Huang, Haohui, Liang, Kuan, Zhao, Lianyu, Wang, Ziyuan, Zhao, Jishi, Li, Yan, Duan, Chongxiong, Sun, Haibo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0743-7463; 1520-5827
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c01005

Bacterial adhesion and colonization on material surfaces pose a serious problem for healthcare-associated devices. Cationic amphiphilic polymer brushes are usually used as surface coatings in antibacterial materials to endow an interface with excellent bactericidal efficiency, but they are easily contaminated, which puts a great limitation on their application. Herein, novel antibacterial copolymer brush surfaces containing geminized cationic amphiphilic polymers (pAGC8) and thermoresponsive poly­(N-isopropylacrylamide) polymers (pNIPAm) have been synthesized. Surface functionalization of polymer brushes was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy, and water contact angle measurements. A proportion of AGC8 and NIPAm units in copolymer brushes has been adjusted to obtain a high-efficiency bactericidal surface with minimal interference to its self-cleaning property. The killing and releasing efficiency of the optimized surface simultaneously reached up to above 80% for both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria, and the bactericidal and self-cleaning abilities are still excellent even after three kill–release cycles. Such a novel copolymer brush system provides innovative guidance for the development of high-efficiency antibacterial materials in biomedical application.