A Coating‐Free Nonfouling Polymeric Elastomer

Abstract

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.

Anti‐Biofouling and Healable Materials: Preparation, Mechanisms, and Biomedical Applications

“…Similarly but excitingly, a new “hidden zwitterion” strategy is reported to achieve both high bulk mechanical strength and excellent surface nonfouling properties through a nonfouling polymeric elastomer based on zwitterionic polycarboxybetaine derivatives, without the need of surface coating . As shown in Figure , replacing the quaternary amines in conventional poly(carboxybetaine) with tertiary amines and protecting its carboxyl groups with esters convert the superhydrophilic and zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine) into charge neutral and hydrophobic protonated tertiary carboxybetaine ester polymer (PTCBE).…”

“…Schematics of nonfouling PTCBE elastomer: a) chemical structure of conventional zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine); b) PTCBE elastomers with different types of carboxylate esters lead to a superhydrophilic surface upon surface hydrolysis. All panels reproduced with permission . Copyright 2017, Wiley.…”

“…The development of anti‐biofouling and healable surfaces can solve this problem to some extent, as summarized in the previous sections. Among them, Jiang and co‐workers reported a strategy and further applied it to a catheter model. Briefly, they fabricated a catheter prototype with protonated tertiary carboxybetaine isobornyl elastomer covering the outer and inner surface via mold casting and bulk polymerization process.…”

Tackling the Concept of Symbiotic Implantable Medical Devices with Nanobiotechnologies

“…In addition to this bone particular example, more general comments on bio‐inert materials and their interactions with the body can be found in the literature …”

Outstanding antifouling performance of poly(vinylidene fluoride) membranes: Novel amphiphilic brushlike copolymer blends and one‐step surface zwitterionization

“…For decades, zwitterions have emerged as a new generation of antifouling materials because of their strong affinity with water molecules via electrostatic interactions, which can energetically and kinetically resist protein adsorption . Therefore, lots of studies have been carried out to introduce zwitterions onto the membrane surface .…”