Bioinspired Catecholic Copolymers for Antifouling
Surface Coatings
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Abstract
We
report here a synthetic approach to prepare poly(methyl methacrylate)-polydopamine
diblock (PMMA-PDA) and triblock (PDA-PMMA-PDA) copolymers combining
mussel-inspired catecholic oxidative chemistry and atom transfer radical
polymerization (ATRP). These copolymers display very good solubility
in a range of organic solvents and also a broad band photo absorbance
that increases with increasing PDA content in the copolymer. Spin-cast
thin films of the copolymer were stable in water and showed a sharp
reduction (by up to 50%) in protein adsorption compared to those of
neat PMMA. Also the peak decomposition temperature of the copolymers
was up to 43°C higher than neat PMMA. The enhanced solvent processability,
thermal stability and low protein adsorption characteristics of this
copolymer makes it attractive for variety of applications including
antifouling coatings on large surfaces such as ship hulls, buoys,
and wave energy converters