Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Functionalized Polyimide-Based Microporous Films to Prevent Bacterial Adhesion

Abstract

Preventing microbial adhesion onto membranes is a crucial issue that determines the durability of the membrane. In this Research Article, we prepared aromatic polyimides (extensively employed for the elaboration of ultrafiltration membranes) containing PEO branches. Four polyimide-g-PEO copolymers were prepared from 6F dianhydride and a novel aromatic diamine containing PEO-550 side groups. The copolymers were designed to have variable PEO content, and were characterized by their spectroscopic and physical properties. The Breath Figure technique was successfully applied to create an ordered surface topography, where the PEO chains were preferentially located on the surface of the micrometer size holes. These unique features were explored to reduce bacterial adhesion. It was established that surface modified polyimide membranes have a high resistance to biofouling against Staphylococcus aureus. In particular, we observed that an increase of the PEO the content in the copolymer produced a decrease in the bacterial adhesion.

Breath Figure: A Nature-Inspired Preparation Method for Ordered Porous Films

“…327 Recently, Rodriguez-Hernandez also found that BFA films of polyimide-g-PEO/polyimide could effectively prevent the adhesive Staphylococcus aureus, which may attribute to hydrophilicity of pore walls. 440 Further investigation showed that the BFA films demonstrated antifouling properties in addition to antibacterial activity. Antifouling BFA films, which had a multigradient porous surface, were also reported by Rodriguez-Hernandez et al in their recent work.…”

Toward Cell Selective Surfaces: Cell Adhesion and Proliferation on Breath Figures with Antifouling Surface Chemistry

“…According to precedent studies, the chemical composition at the surface plays a key role on both the bacterial and cell adhesion. In particular, surfaces with hydrophobic and highly hydrophobic (fluorinated) groups and those containing PEGMA moieties demonstrated to prevent bacterial adhesion, at least during the initial incubation process . On the contrary, polypeptides sequences or hydrophilic groups such as poly­(acrylic acid) show extensive bacterial immobilization .…”

“…Both aspects have been studied separately and only few studies have evaluated the antimicrobial/antifouling properties of the honeycomb patterned surfaces. 26 Within this context, recent reports of our group 13,30,31 and other teams 26 have been focused on understanding the role of pore size and surface chemistry on the bacterial adhesion, or on the development of honeycomb-structured films with antimicrobial/antifouling properties in order to reduce the bacterial adhesion, which is essential for biomaterials used in vivo. Our recent findings demonstrate that both pore size and chemistry clearly direct bacterial adhesion.…”

Unique structure and new thermophysical properties of poly(ethylene oxide) in nanocomposites based on nanoporous polypropylene matrices

“…PEO is known to be a biocompatible semicrystalline polymer, which is widely used in medical and pharmaceutical formulations, [22][23][24] diverse electrochemical devices (including fuel cells, batteries, and supercapacitors), 25 gasseparation membranes 26 as well as for the purposes of thermal and solar energy storage. 27 As was reported in numerous publications, crystallization of PEO is markedly controlled by nanoscale confinement, for example, in thin layered composites, nanotubes, porous silica matrixes, nanoemulsions, nanofibers, and block copolymers.…”