Polypeptoids are non-natural, sequence specific polymers that offer the opportunity to probe the effect of monomer sequence, charge, chirality, and chain shape on self-assembly and surface properties. Although examples of hierarchical polypeptide structures abound in nature, the <i>de novo </i>design of such systems is still a major challenge. The polypeptoid system with its much simplified set of inter and intramolecular interactions provides an opportunity to explore this design space with more tractable systems. In this talk, the role of chirality and molecular helicity in relatively simple block copolymer architectures as well as the more complicated assembly of achiral molecules into homochiral superstructures will be discussed. Additionally, polypeptoid synthesis is more scaleable than traditional polypeptides suggesting their utility in large area applications. As a result, efficient marine anti-fouling coatings can be made from triblock copolymer scaffolds to which polypeptoids are tethered in order to tune both the modulus and surface energies with great precision. Surprisingly, when short sequences are tethered to a polymer backbone, polypeptoids consistently outperform analogous polypeptides in antifouling properties. We hypothesize that the hydrogen bonding inherent to the polypeptide backbone drives the observed differences in performance.

Using bioinspired polypeptoids to make functional anti-fouling surfaces

2019 Fall National Meeting

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