Dual-Temperature-Responsive Microgels from a Zwitterionic Functional Graft Copolymer with Superior Protein Repelling Property

ACS Macro Letters, vol. 9, pp. 895–901

Abstract

In this work, we developed a synthetic strategy to synthesize dual-temperature-responsive low surface fouling zwitterionic microgels. Statistical poly( N -vinylcaprolactam- co -glycidyl methacrylate) copolymers were synthesized by RAFT polymerization and post-modified by thiol-epoxy click reaction with thiol end-group-modified poly(sulfobetaine) macro-RAFT (PSB-SH) to obtain poly( N -vinylcaprolactam- co -glycidyl methacrylate)- graft -poly(sulfobetaine) (PVCL- co -PGMA- g -PSB) graft copolymers. Synthesized graft copolymers were cross-linked by diamine cross-linker in water-in-oil (w/o) inverse mini-emulsion to obtain zwitterionic microgels. Using this approach, we synthesized microgels with unique microstructure, high loading and uniform distribution of poly(sulfobetaine) chains, which exhibits tunable dual-volume phase transition temperatures. The microgels also showed excellent antifouling property reflected in strongly reduced protein absorption on a microgel-coated surface observed in real time by a Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (QCM-D) monitoring experiment with continuous flow of protein solution. Therefore, this kind of zwitterionic microgel can be potentially used for temperature-triggered drug delivery and anti-bioadhesion coating material as well.

Authors 7

1. Pabitra Saha Aachen DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry

   DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   DWI − Leibniz-Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

2. Marta Santi Aachen DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry

   DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   DWI − Leibniz-Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

3. Martin Frenken Aachen DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   Affiliation as printed

   DWI − Leibniz-Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen, Germany

4. Anand Raj Palanisamy Aachen DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur · DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   Affiliation as printed

   DWI − Leibniz-Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen, Germany

   Rubber Technology Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

5. Ritabrata Ganguly

   Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

   Affiliation as printed

   Rubber Technology Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

6. Nikhil K. Singha corresponding

   Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

   Affiliation as printed

   Rubber Technology Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

7. Andrij Pich corresponding Aachen DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry

   Maastricht University · DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Aachen Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials (AMIBM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

   DWI − Leibniz-Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany