In this study, we explored the possibility of polymer interdiffusion for retaining thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAAm) on polycarbonate (PC). It was hypothesized that interdiffusion could be facilitated either by increasing the annealing temperature to enhance miscibility or by treating PC using air plasma (AP) and ultra-violate ozone (UVO) to increase surface-active groups (e.g., hydroxyl) for improved miscibility with pNIPAAm. The results showed that increasing annealing temperature only moderately improved pNIPAAm retention. Treating PC with AP led to an increased presence of surface-active groups and a greatly enhanced retention of pNIPAAm. UVO treatment, however, resulted in severe damage of the PC layer with no noticeable enhancement on pNIPAAm retention. The retained pNIPAAm films on PC exhibited thermoresponsive behavior as evidenced by water contact angle and cell attachment/detachment behaviors above and below the transition temperature of pNIPAAm. Fast cell/cell sheet detachment (&lt; 30 min) from retained pNIPAAm films with a thickness of 30 – 40 nm was observed. The results in this study illustrate the simplicity of using polymer interdiffusion to successfully retain pNIPAAm films on a polymeric support, and the resulting substrates would be less expensive and more versatile than those retained on brittle supports (e.g., glass) for applications that require resilient thermoresponsive substrates.

Retention of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) thin films on polycarbonate via polymer interdiffusion1

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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