Design of comb-like poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) and its rapid co-deposition with dopamine for the study of antifouling properties.

In this work, the comb-like poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) copolymer, poly(2-aminoethyl methacrylate-random-poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) (PMOXA-r-AEMA, PMA) is synthesized, and the CuSO4/H2O2-triggered dopamine/PMA co-deposition process is investigated. Ellipsometry, water contact angle (WCA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are used to characterize the thickness, hydrophilicity, and surface composition of PMA-based coatings. PMA is facilely anchored to substrates within 60 min with the assistance of dopamine/polydopamine triggered by CuSO4/H2O2, and the coating thickness can achieve about 13 nm. Anti-protein adsorption and anti-blood platelet adhesion measurements are also studied to verify their antifouling properties. The adsorption capacity of FITC-BSA can be reduced to 5% of the original surface, and PMA-based coatings present excellent protein-resistant properties (∼95% reduction relative to gold surface) according to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurement, and it can resist adhesion of almost all blood platelets. Moreover, it is applied to a capillary inner wall for surface modification. An alkaline protein mixture and egg white proteins are successfully separated, and present excellent stability. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of migration time is lower than 0.71%. The practicability of this promising PMA-based coatings with this preparation strategy can be used for further proteomics analysis.