Bacterial infections are serious medical complications associated with health care environments. Sources of contamination are often autologous due to catheterization but can occur in a variety of ways from indirect contact with contaminated objects.Antimicrobial coatings that affect contact kill (no biocide or heavy metal release) offer promise in helping curb the spread of such infections.In this research, novelhybridcopolyoxetane modification of a conventional polyurethane is investigated. Objectives include establishing modifier surface concentration, demonstrating stability of antimicrobial effectiveness as well as cytocompatibility. TM-AFM imaging has been used to provide insight into surface morphology and topology. Contact angle hysteresis via dynamic contact angle measurements show that amphiphilic character is introduced via hybrid copolyoxetane modification. Zeta potential measurements have been employed to validate hybrid copolyoxetane surface concentration. Zeta potentials also provide a valuable metric for stability of surface charge in saline media. Guided by these results, hybrid copolyoxetane modification has been shown to confer both contact antimicrobial effectiveness and cytocompatibility that mimics naturally occurring antimicrobial polypeptides. The combined results are interpreted with a proposed mechanism for contact biocidal activity and cytocompatibility.*The authors are grateful for support from the National Science Foundation, Division of Materials Research, Grants DMR-0802452 and DMR-1206259.

Macromolecular biomimicry: Antimicrobial, cytocompatible coatings via hybrid copolyoxetane surface modifiers

248th National Meeting (2014)

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