Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Polymerized Oxazoline-Based Thin Films—Antibacterial Properties and Cytocompatibility Performance

Abstract

Polyoxazolines are a new promising class of polymers for biomedical applications. Antibiofouling polyoxazoline coatings can suppress bacterial colonization of medical devices, which can cause infections to patients. However, the creation of oxazoline-based films using conventional methods is difficult. This study presents a new way to produce plasma polymerized oxazoline-based films with antibiofouling properties and good biocompatibility. The films were created via plasma deposition from 2-methyl-2-oxazoline vapors in nitrogen atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge. Diverse film properties were achieved by increasing the substrate temperature at the deposition. The physical and chemical properties of plasma polymerized polyoxazoline films were studied by SEM, EDX, FTIR, AFM, depth-sensing indentation technique, and surface energy measurement. After tuning of the deposition parameters, films with a capacity to resist bacterial biofilm formation were achieved. Deposited films also promote cell viability.

Fabrication of Biopassive Surfaces Using Poly(2‐alkyl‐2‐oxazoline)s: Recent Progresses and Applications

“…[64,65] Relevantly, the obtained polyoxazoline films retained oxazoline rings within their structure, enabling the accessible conjugation of biomolecules and functional NPs on the treated substrates. [64][65][66][67][68] Although the presence of different functionalities at the interface of plasma-polymerized MOXA and 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline (EOXA) films triggered a non-negligible surface contamination by bacteria, several works in the recent literature demonstrated their moderate antimicrobial character with respect to uncoated surfaces, [64,69] which was accompanied to an excellent cytocompatibility. [63][64][65] While plasma polymerization of AOXAs is emerging as a convenient technique to fabricate thick coatings on different substrates, the generation of functional biointerfaces has been mainly relying on the application of PAOXA adsorbates synthesized by CROP.…”

“…[ 64,65 ] Relevantly, the obtained polyoxazoline films retained oxazoline rings within their structure, enabling the accessible conjugation of biomolecules and functional NPs on the treated substrates. [ 64–68 ] Although the presence of different functionalities at the interface of plasma‐polymerized MOXA and 2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline (EOXA) films triggered a non‐negligible surface contamination by bacteria, several works in the recent literature demonstrated their moderate antimicrobial character with respect to uncoated surfaces, [ 64,69 ] which was accompanied to an excellent cytocompatibility. [ 63–65 ]…”

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Polymerized 2-Ethyl-2-oxazoline Based Thin Films for Biomedical Purposes

“…In our previous study, POx thin coatings were deposited in nitrogen APTD using 2-methyl-2-oxazoline vapour as a monomer. The glass substrates were heated up to 150 C during the deposition process [ 23 ]. The POx films with the highest biocompatibility and the best antibiofoulding properties were obtained at the deposition with a substrate temperature of 150 C. From above mentioned studies follows that the deposition conditions have to be properly chosen in order to obtain the POx coatings which are stable in aqueous environments and have the best antibiofouling properties.…”

“…This temperature change led to different film properties. The film properties were compared with POx film properties deposited from 2-methyl-2-oxazoline at the same deposition conditions in our previous study [ 23 ].…”

Polymer Biointerfaces

“…To improve the film properties, it was necessary to increase the substrate temperature during the deposition. All deposited films are cytocompatible and exhibited excellent antibacterial properties against S. epidermidis, S. aureus, and Escherichia coli [31].…”