Bacteria-repulsive polyglycerol surfaces by grafting polymerization onto aminopropylated surfaces

Langmuir. 2012 Nov 13;28(45):15916-21. doi: 10.1021/la303541h. Epub 2012 Oct 30.

Abstract

The formation of hydrogels on surfaces is a frequently used strategy to render these surfaces biorepulsive. Hyperbranched polyglycerol layers are a promising alternative to the frequently used polyethyleneglycol layers. Here, we present a strategy to covalently graft polyglycerol layers onto surfaces by first depositing an aminopropylsiloxane layer, which then acts as initiator layer for the ring-opening polymerization of 2-(hydroxymethyl)oxirane (glycidol). For silicon surfaces, the resulting polyglycerol layers start being biorepulsive for E. coli at a thickness of 2 nm and reach their highest bacterial repulsion (98%) at thicknesses of 7 nm or larger. This deposition strategy promises general applicability because the formation of aminopropylsiloxane layers has already been described for many materials.

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Adhesion
  • Epoxy Compounds / chemical synthesis
  • Epoxy Compounds / chemistry*
  • Escherichia coli / chemistry*
  • Glycerol / chemical synthesis
  • Glycerol / chemistry*
  • Molecular Structure
  • Polymerization
  • Polymers / chemical synthesis
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Propanols / chemical synthesis
  • Propanols / chemistry*
  • Siloxanes / chemistry*
  • Surface Properties

Substances

  • Epoxy Compounds
  • Polymers
  • Propanols
  • Siloxanes
  • polyglycerol
  • Glycerol
  • glycidol