New amphiphilic graft terpolymers for multimodal anti-fouling coatings

Abstract

Here, we present the synergistic multimodal anti-biofouling effect of amphiphilic graft ter-polymers against protein adsorption, cell adhesion, and marine organism settlement in a single platform. Graft-type terpolymers were synthesized by covalently attaching poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to a poly(pentafluorophenyl acrylate) (PPFPA) backbone. A silicon wafer was spin-coated with the graft terpolymers, and the anti-fouling polymer layer was characterized using ellipsometry, water contact angle, and atomic force microscopy for thickness, hydrophobicity, and roughness measurements, respectively. The characterization results showed that the PPFPA-PEG-PDMS substrate exhibited optimum thickness, hydrophilic property, and low roughness characteristics. The anti-fouling performances were evaluated using bovine serum albumin, murine fibroblasts, and a marine organism, Chlorella vulgaris. The PPFPA-PEG-PDMS coating layer exhibited the synergistic multimodal anti-biofouling activities against protein, mammalian cell, and algal cell. In contrast, the conventional homopolymer chemistry showed limited anti-fouling effects. This amphiphilic graft terpolymers can be a promising multimodal anti-biofouling platform for biomedical and marine anti-fouling applications.