Poly(methyl methacrylate) surface grafted with poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) using tea polyphenol as linker molecule

Studies of antifouling materials have been focused on substituting synthetic materials with bio-based materials, which are essentially derived from plants and suitably categorized as ‘green’ and renewable materials. Gallic acid (GA), which exists abundantly in tea and other plants, has important biological and pharmacological properties. In this study, GA was used as a linker molecule to combine poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Firstly, bio-based polymer (PEtOx-GA) was synthesized and then was reacted with the poly(ethyleneimine)-modified PMMA substrate (PEI-S) to form the functional film (PEtOx-GA-PEI-S) via Schiff-base and Michael addition reactions. The PEtOx-GA-PEI-S functional film prevented protein adsorption, as demonstrated by water contact angle testing and an adsorption experiment with bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein, and the mass of adsorbed BSA was reduced by ~70%. This study focuses on the recent developments with bio-based materials that are employed for functional film synthesis and indicate that PEtOx-GA-PEI-S functional film is a highly promising candidate for biomedical antifouling applications.