Probing polydopamine adhesion to protein and polymer films: microscopic and spectroscopic evaluation

David Mallinson; Alexander B Mullen; Dimitrios A Lamprou

doi:10.1007/s10853-017-1806-y

Probing polydopamine adhesion to protein and polymer films: microscopic and spectroscopic evaluation

J Mater Sci. 2018;53(5):3198-3209. doi: 10.1007/s10853-017-1806-y. Epub 2017 Nov 15.

Authors

David Mallinson¹, Alexander B Mullen¹, Dimitrios A Lamprou^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ 1Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Cathedral Street, Glasgow, G4 0RE UK.
² 2Medway School of Pharmacy, University of Kent, Medway Campus, Anson Building, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TB UK.

Abstract

Polydopamine has been found to be a biocompatible polymer capable of supporting cell growth and attachment, and to have antibacterial and antifouling properties. Together with its ease of manufacture and application, it ought to make an ideal biomaterial and function well as a coating for implants. In this paper, atomic force microscope was used to measure the adhesive forces between polymer-, protein- or polydopamine-coated surfaces and a silicon nitride or polydopamine-functionalised probes. Surfaces were further characterised by contact angle goniometry, and solutions by circular dichroism. Polydopamine was further characterised with infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. It was found that polydopamine functionalisation of the atomic force microscope probe significantly reduced adhesion to all tested surfaces. For example, adhesion to mica fell from 0.27 ± 0.7 to 0.05 ± 0.01 nN nm^-1. The results suggest that polydopamine coatings are suitable to be used for a variety of biomedical applications.