Grafted poly(ethylene oxide) brushes as nonfouling surface coatings

Abstract

The identification of design criteria for the prevention of surface fouling by protein adsorption has been an elusive research goal. The current ideas in this domain assume two different directions. One focuses on correlating protein adsorption with macroscopic surface properties such as the water wettability. The second approach involves tailoring the molecular interactions between the adsorbing proteins and the surface. In this paper, we focus on the experimental results and theoretical ideas concerned with tuning the interfacial forces by means of terminally grafted PEO chains.

Keywords:

• Poly(ethylene oxide)
• protein resistance
• water-soluble polymers: oligoethylene oxide
• force measurements