Self-generating and Self-renewing Zwitterionic Polymer Surfaces for Marine Anti-biofouling

ABSTRACT: Regeneration of antifouling polymer surfaces after contamination or damage is an important issue, especially in complex marine environments. Here, inspired by self-renewal of silyl acrylate polymers and protein resistance of zwitterionic polymers, we prepared a novel hydrolysis-induced zwitterionic monomer-tertiary carboxybetaine triisopropylsilyl ester ethyl acrylate (TCBSA) and copolymerized it with methyl methacrylate (MMA). Such copolymer rapidly self-generates a zwitterionic surface and provides fouling resistance in marine environments. Furthermore, TCBSA was copolymerized with MMA and 2-methylene-1,3-dioxepane (MDO), where MDO provides degradation to the polymers. Our study demonstrates that the degradation of the polymer is controlled, and the degradation rate increases with the external enzyme concentration in the seawater, leading to a self-renewing dynamic surface. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) measurements show that the polymeric coating with self-generating zwitterions has excellent protein resistance in seawater. Bioassays demonstrate the coating can effectively inhibit the adhesion of marine bacteria (Pseudomonas sp.) and diatoms (Navicula incerta). The coating with a self-generating and self-renewing zwitterionic surface is potential to find applications in marine anti-biofouling.

文章链接：http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b16775