Surface-Modified Membranes via 'Click'-Based Chemistry for Creating Low Fouling and Cell Adhesion-Triggering Interfaces

控制膜的表面性质对于确保它们在目标应用中正常发挥作用是至关重要的。在许多环境或生物医学应用中，关键的挑战是消除与细胞、蛋白质或其他分子相关的黏附，从而消除污染，在目标应用中，这可能会显著改变膜的性质；或者，在一些生物反应器应用中，可逆的细胞与膜的黏附将是非常有益的，以便在细胞培养之后按需收集细胞。我们的公司合作伙伴西蒂斯环境公司有兴趣开发这两种类型的膜，特别是那些可以在宽温度范围内运行的膜。然而，目前用于制造蛋白质排斥或响应性膜表面的技术效率低，需要无空气条件，和/或难以规模化到制造环境中。麦克马斯特大学霍尔实验室最近开发了一种用于纤维素表面的替代涂层技术，使用简单的浸渍涂层工艺，基于聚合物聚(低聚乙二醇甲基丙烯酸酯)(POEGMA)的功能性短聚合物链可以稳定地附着在表面，而不需要任何复杂的加工步骤。在此背景下，拟议的Engage赠款的目标是设计一种基于反应性POEGMA聚合物的可重复和可伸缩的聚合物组合物和涂层策略，以使Thetis Environmental独特的多层膜功能化。我们将评估改性膜的表面特性(即抵抗蛋白质污染和控制细胞黏附的能力)以及膜传输特性(即流动性、选择性和渗透性)，以确定在不显著改变膜性能的情况下改善表面特性的最佳策略，旨在确定一种可翻译的工艺，以便在参与期结束前在Thetis Environmental的当前工作流程中实施。这项工作有可能带来一种适销对路的产品，除了在快速增长的领域(年增长率为10%)提供培训机会外，还可以解决与膜相关的多个应用领域的关键挑战。

Controlling the surface properties of membranes is essential to ensure that they function properly in their targeted applications. In many environmental or biomedical applications, the key challenge is to eliminate the adhesion and thus fouling associated with cells, proteins, or other molecules that can substantially change the membrane properties in the target application; alternately, in some bioreactor applications, reversible cell adhesion to the membrane to allow for cell culturing followed by on-demand cell collection would be highly beneficial. Our company partner Thetis Environmental has interests in developing both types of membranes, particularly those that can operate over broad temperature ranges. However, current techniques for fabricating protein-repellent or responsive membrane surfaces are inefficient, require air-free conditions, and/or are difficult to scale to a manufacturing context. The Hoare lab at McMaster University has recently developed an alternative coating technique for cellulose-based surfaces using a simple dip coating process in which functional short polymer chains based on the polymer poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) (POEGMA) can be stably attached to the surface without requiring any complex processing steps. In this context, the objective of the proposed Engage grant is to engineer a reproducible and scalable polymer composition and coating strategy based on reactive POEGMA polymers to functionalize Thetis Environmental's unique multi-layer membranes. We will assess both the surface properties (i.e. the ability to resist protein fouling and control cell adhesion) as well as the membrane transport properties (i.e. flow, selectivity, and permeability) of the modified membranes to identify the best strategy for improving surface properties without significantly changing the membrane performance, aiming to identify a translatable process for implementation within Thetis Environmental's current workflow by the end of the Engage period. This work has the potential to lead to a marketable product that solves key challenges in multiple application areas associated with membranes in addition to providing training opportunities within a fast-growing field (>10% annual growth).