A universal approach to crosslinked hierarchical polymer multilayers as stable and highly effective antifouling coatings

Abstract

Material-independent and bioinert hierarchical polymer multilayer coatings are presented. Chemically active catecholic hyperbranched polyglycerols (hPGs) form a foundation layer on a versatile surface via multivalent anchoring and crosslinking, the activity of which is shielded by the bioinert catecholic hPGs. Mono-catecholic hPGs finally terminate all of the free catechols to build a flexible bioinert top layer. These coatings perfectly prevent protein and cell adhesion.

Keywords: antifouling; hierarchical multilayer architecture; hyperbranched polyglycerol; protein resistance; surface modification.