Protein and Bacterial Antifouling Behavior of Melt-Coextruded Nanofiber Mats

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 8; no. 14; pp. 8928 - 8938
• Main Authors: Kim, Si-Eun, Zhang, Cong, Advincula, Abigail A, Baer, Eric, Pokorski, Jonathan K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 13.04.2016
• Subjects: Adsorption; Blood Proteins - chemistry; Cell Adhesion - drug effects; Coinfection - microbiology; Coinfection - therapy; Escherichia coli - drug effects; Humans; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions - drug effects; Methacrylates - chemistry; Methacrylates - therapeutic use; Nanofibers - chemistry; Nanofibers - therapeutic use; Polyesters - chemistry; Polyesters - therapeutic use; Polyethylene Glycols - chemistry; Polyethylene Glycols - therapeutic use; Porosity; zwitterionic polymers; coextrusion; antifouling; nanofibers; polymer brushes
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b00093

Antifouling surfaces are important for biomedical devices to prevent secondary infections and mitigate the effects of the foreign body response. Herein, we describe melt-coextruded poly­(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofiber mats grafted with antifouling polymers. Nonwoven PCL fiber mats are produced using a multilayered melt coextrusion process followed by high-pressure hydroentanglement to yield porous patches. The resulting fiber mats show submicrometer cross-sectional fiber dimensions and yield pore sizes that were nearly uniform, with a mean pore size of 1.6 ± 0.9 μm. Several antifouling polymers, including hydrophilic, zwitterionic, and amphipathic molecules, are grafted to the surface of the mats using a two-step procedure that includes photochemistry followed by the copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition reaction. Fiber mats are evaluated using separate adsorption tests for serum proteins and E. coli. The results indicate that poly­(oligo­(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate)-co-(trifluoroethyl methacrylate) (poly­(OEGMEMA-co-TFEMA)) grafted mats exhibit approximately 85% less protein adhesion and 97% less E. coli adsorption when compared to unmodified PCL fibermats. In dynamic antifouling testing, the amphiphilic fluorous polymer surface shows the highest flux and highest rejection value of foulants. The work presented within has implications on the high-throughput production of antifouling microporous patches for medical applications.