Fabrication and functionalization of reactive polymeric coatings for biomedical applications

Abstract

The work in this thesis describes the design and synthesis of novel reactive polymeric coatings that can be utilized for fabrication of functional interfaces for applications like biosensing and protective antibacterial coatings for implants. Various approaches were utilized to prepare these surface bound coatings as polymeric thin films, polymer brushes or hydrogels. In the first study, thermo-responsive polymeric films were prepared using furan containing copolymers and their reversible functionalization was demonstrated via Diels-Alder (DA)/retro Diels-Alder (rDA) strategy. The second study discloses fabrication of maleimide-containing thiol-reactive coatings on glass like surfaces and their functionalization using the nucleophilic thiol-ene reaction. In the third project, the maleimide-containing polymers were adapted for adhesion to metal surfaces via mussel inspired catechol based interaction. These surfaces were conjugated with antibacterial peptides, followed by assessment of their antimicrobial activity against bacteria. In the fourth project, maleimide containing polymer brushes were fabricated and appropriately functionalized brushes were employed for ligand-directed protein mediated immobilization of nanoparticles. In fifth study, amine-reactive polymer brushes containing succinimidyl-carbonate moieties amenable towards facile functionalization with amine-containing molecules were synthesized. In the final chapter, fabrication of multifunctional furan-protected maleimide-containing hydrogel coating on titanium surfaces that could be modified using UV-mediated thiol-ene, ieDDA, and after unmasking of the maleimide, with nucleophilic thiol-ene and DA reactions was described. In summary, in this thesis a variety of reactive polymer coated surfaces were fabricated and their efficient functionalization was demonstrated to highlight them as attractive candidates for various biomedical applications.