The development of effective antifouling materials remains a critical challenge across diverse fields such as marine coatings, biomedical devices, and filtration membranes. Among various antifouling polymers, poly(N-hydroxyethylacrylamide) (PHEAA) has emerged as a highly promising candidate due to its excellent hydration capability, strong resistance to protein adsorption, and favorable hemocompatibility. While linear PHEAA-based coatings have been widely studied, the influence of topological architecture on antifouling performance is still poorly understood. This study reports the first synthesis and evaluation of tadpole-shaped PHEAA coatings—comprising a cyclic PHEAA head and a linear poly(dopamine methacrylamide) tail—using a Y-shaped trifunctional platform. The copolymer was synthesized via controlled radical polymerization followed by an intramolecular sulfur(VI)-fluoride exchange (SuFEx) click reaction to form the cyclic segment.
Characterization by NMR, FT-IR, and GPC confirmed the successful formation of the tadpole-shaped structure, with the complete disappearance of silyl ether signals and a shift in GPC elution volume consistent with reduced hydrodynamic volume. The resulting (c-PHEAA)-b-PDMA copolymer exhibited a significantly lower molecular weight in GPC compared to its linear precursor, indicating high cyclization efficiency.TMEM192 Antibody Technical Information Surface immobilization was achieved through catechol-mediated adhesion onto gold-coated substrates using a simple dip-coating method. XPS analysis confirmed the presence of nitrogen and oxygen from the polymer, while ellipsometry revealed thinner film thicknesses (2.1 nm) for the tadpole-shaped coating compared to 9.4 nm for the linear analog, despite similar molecular weights.
Antifouling performance was evaluated via protein adsorption and bacterial adhesion assays. Both bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme adsorption were markedly reduced on the tadpole-shaped surfaces, with BSA levels dropping to 9.8 mg cm⁻² and lysozyme to 0.7 mg cm⁻²—significantly lower than those on linear PHEAA brushes (45.1 and 9.1 mg cm⁻², respectively). Fluorescence imaging of E. coli DH5a bacteria showed that the tadpole-shaped surface supported only 0.51 × 10³ cells cm⁻² after 3 hours, compared to 7.Cytokeratin 15 Antibody Technical Information 26 × 10³ cells cm⁻² on bare gold and 0.PMID:34929179 83 × 10³ cells cm⁻² on linear brushes. This corresponds to a 93% reduction in bacterial adhesion versus unmodified gold.
Atomic force microscopy revealed smoother surface topography on the tadpole-shaped coating (RMS roughness: 3.8 nm) than on the linear counterpart (4.4 nm), suggesting more densely packed and uniform grafts. The absence of interchain entanglements in the cyclic head segment enables tighter packing and enhanced steric repulsion, which contributes to superior antifouling behavior. Despite lower graft density due to the compact structure, the tadpole-shaped coating outperformed its linear analogue, highlighting the dominant role of topology over density. These findings demonstrate that architectural design, particularly the incorporation of cyclic segments, can dramatically enhance antifouling properties independent of chemical composition or molecular weight. This work opens new avenues for engineering next-generation antifouling surfaces through precise control of polymer architecture.MedChemExpress (MCE) offers a wide range of high-quality research chemicals and biochemicals (novel life-science reagents, reference compounds and natural compounds) for scientific use. We have professionally experienced and friendly staff to meet your needs. We are a competent and trustworthy partner for your research and scientific projects.Related websites: https://www.medchemexpress.com
