Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
Adv Mater. 2017 Aug;29(31). doi: 10.1002/adma.201700617. Epub 2017 Jun 16.
Medical devices face nonspecific biofouling from proteins, cells, and microorganisms, which significantly contributes to complications and device failure. Imparting these devices with nonfouling capabilities remains a major challenge, particularly for those made from elastomeric polymers. Current strategies, including surface coating and copolymerization/physical blending, necessitate compromise among nonfouling properties, durability, and mechanical strength. Here, a new strategy is reported to achieve both high bulk mechanical strength and excellent surface nonfouling properties, which are typically contradictory, in one material. This is realized through a nonfouling polymeric elastomer based on zwitterionic polycarboxybetaine derivatives. By hiding both charged moieties of the zwitterionic compounds with hydrocarbon ester and tertiary amine groups, the bulk polymer itself is elastomeric and hydrophobic while its superhydrophilic surface properties are restored upon hydrolysis. This coating-free nonfouling elastomer is a highly promising biomaterial for biomedical and engineering applications.
医疗器械会受到蛋白质、细胞和微生物等非特异性生物污垢的影响，这会显著导致并发症和器械故障。赋予这些器械抗生物污垢的能力仍然是一个主要挑战，特别是对于那些由弹性体聚合物制成的器械。目前的策略，包括表面涂层和共聚/物理共混，需要在抗生物污垢性能、耐久性和机械强度之间做出妥协。在这里，报道了一种新的策略，可以在一种材料中同时实现高的体力学强度和优异的表面抗生物污垢性能，这通常是相互矛盾的。这是通过基于两性离子聚羧基甜菜碱衍生物的抗生物污垢聚合物弹性体来实现的。通过用烃酯和叔胺基团隐藏两性离子化合物的带电部分，大块聚合物本身具有弹性体和疏水性，而其超亲水表面性质在水解后得以恢复。这种无涂层的抗生物污垢弹性体是一种很有前途的用于生物医学和工程应用的生物材料。
