Construction of a temperature-responsive terpolymer coating with recyclable bactericidal and self-cleaning antimicrobial properties.

Once a biomedical implant is implanted into a human body, proteins and bacteria can easily colonize the implant, and subsequently, a biofilm can grow on the surface. A biofilm can protect the inhabiting bacteria against macrophages and neutrophil cell attack from the host immune system. The most important issue for artificial antibacterial surfaces is the accumulation of the bacteria corpse after they are killed by contact, which promotes further adhesion of bacteria and biofilm formation. Therefore, we constructed a novel multifunctional bactericidal and fouling release antibacterial surface through the combination of temperature-responsive N-vinylcaprolactam (VCL), hydrophilic 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) and a bactericidal quaternary ammonium salt (2-(dimethylamino)-ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA