Amphiphilic Fouling-Resistant Surfaces Based on Janus Particles

材料表面的生物膜形成-生物污垢-对广泛的应用和工业具有显著的经济影响。最近证明，防污表面可从嵌段共聚物的涂层中获得，所述嵌段共聚物联合收割机结合亲水性和疏水性组分并形成具有相反表面能的纳米级化学域（两亲性表面）。然而，在这种方法中，形貌（已知强烈影响生物结垢的参数）和化学域的尺寸和间距都不能被有效地控制和/或改变。系统地探索化学结构域的大小和地形的两亲性表面上的生物污损的影响，可以揭示这些参数的相互作用的生物粘附过程中，并提供前所未有的水平的污垢resistance.The拟议的项目，因此，旨在引入一个新的，可扩展的策略，设计的两亲性表面与控制污垢阻力使用聚合物功能化的胶体颗粒作为表面固定的积木。将使用在其相对侧具有亲水性和疏水性聚合物壳的颗粒（Janus颗粒）或均匀涂覆有亲水性或疏水性聚合物的颗粒的混合物来制造表面。通过改变颗粒的尺寸（50 - 1000 nm），可以制备具有纳米至微米尺度的化学域尺寸和限定的纳米至微米粗糙形貌的表面。将使用高通量批量以及单细胞测定来测试开发的表面抑制不同细菌物种粘附的能力。这些方法的组合将有助于快速有效地识别最佳颗粒参数组合，将有助于进一步优化所设计表面的抗污染性能，并将在目前两亲性表面的工作原理不明确的情况下获得机械见解。实验数据将最终允许开发一个模型来解释（和概括）协同化学和地形的影响，确定非粘性性能的颗粒为基础的表面。该项目结合了两个科学小组的互补专业知识（一）。颗粒制备和聚合物/颗粒杂化材料（Synytska）和（ii.）生物功能聚合物材料及其在生物界面现象控制中的应用（Friedrichs/Werner）。拟议项目的最终目标是为合理设计坚固和可扩展的防污表面铺平道路。

Biofilm formation on materials surfaces – biofouling – has significant economic impact on a wide range of applications and industries. Fouling-resistant surfaces were recently demonstrated to be accessible from coatings of block copolymers that combine hydrophilic and hydrophobic components and form nano-scaled chemical domains with opposing surface energies (amphiphilic surfaces). However, in this approach neither the topography (a parameter that is known to strongly influence biofouling) nor the size and spacing of the chemical domains can be efficiently controlled and/or varied. Systematically exploring the effect of chemical domain size and topography of amphiphilic surfaces on biofouling could shed light on the interplay of these parameters on bioadhesion processes and provide unprecedented levels of fouling resistance.The proposed project therefore aims at introducing a new, scalable strategy for the design of amphiphilic surfaces with controlled fouling resistance using polymer-functionalized colloidal particles as surface-immobilized building blocks. Surfaces will be fabricated using either particles with hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymeric shells at their opposing sides (Janus particles) or mixtures of particles homogeneously coated with hydrophilic or hydrophobic polymers. By varying the size of the particles (50 – 1000 nm), surfaces featuring both chemical domain sizes from the nano- to the micrometer scale and a defined nano- to micro-rough topography can be prepared. The ability of the developed surfaces to inhibit adhesion of different bacterial species will be tested using high throughput bulk- as well as single cell-assays. The combination of these methods will facilitate the rapid and efficient identification of optimal particle parameter combinations, will help to further optimize the fouling-resistant performance of the designed surfaces and will gain mechanistic insight in the currently ill-defined working principle of amphiphilic surfaces. The experimental data will finally allow for developing a model to explain (and generalize) synergistic chemical and topographic effects that determine the non-adhesive performance of the particle-based surfaces. The project combines complementary expertise of two scientific groups in (i.) particle preparation and polymer/particle hybrid materials (Synytska) and (ii.) bio-functional polymeric materials and their use in the control of biointerfacial phenomena (Friedrichs/Werner). The ultimate goal of the proposed project is to pave the way for the rational design of robust and scalable fouling-resistant surfaces.