Regeneration of materials properties through surface regeneration could extend the lifetime of devices and is still an emerging field of research. (Self-)regenerating antimicrobial polymer surfaces could help to fight biofilm formation and related bacterial infections. In this paper, four different polymer multilayer designs for the regeneration of antimicrobial surfaces by layer shedding are presented. The multilayer architectures consist of 100-200 nm thick, discrete polymer layers. They are made from poly(guanidinium oxanorbornene) networks as the antimicrobial component, and different interlayers made from degradable poly(adipic anhydrides), depolymerizable poly(ethyl glyoxylate), or water-soluble poly(acrylamide). Layer shedding is designed to occur after hydrolysis, dissolution or depolymerization under simulated physiological conditions. The multilayer fabrication and disassembly is monitored by fluorescence microscopy, ellipsometry FT-IR spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. By testing the antimicrobial activity of the restored surfaces, their functional integrity after layer shedding is confirmed.
Keywords: antimicrobial polymers; hydrogels; polymer multilayers; polymeric materials; surface modification.