Silicones are commonly used for blood-contacting medical devices as well as marine and industrial coatings. However, due to their extreme hydrophobicity, silicones exhibit poor resistance to biological adhesion, including blood proteins and microorganisms. To reduce adhesion events, silicone surfaces have been hydrophilized by various physical and chemical strategies including modification with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO; or poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)). In this study, linear PEO-silane amphiphiles containing a flexible, hydrophobic siloxane tether of variable length (n) were used to prepare bulk-modified silicones (acetoxy cure RTV silicone, 20% silica) as well as model surface-grafted coatings on silicon wafers (Figure 1). Contact angle measurements were recorded and compared to the adsorption of fibrinogen protein solutions via QCM-D. Surface-grafted coatings confirmed that increased siloxane tether length produced an increase in surface hydrophobicity and, hence, reduced protein resistance. However, for bulk-modified silicones, reconstruction of the amphiphiles to the surface and the resulting increase in surface hydrophilicity was generally enhanced with a longer siloxane tether. Thus, restructuring of the PEO-silane amphiphile in a bulk coating and the resulting surface wettability is impacted by siloxane tether length.

Anti-fouling silicone coatings prepared with PEO-silane amphiphiles

247th National Meeting (2014)

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