Liquid-like Polymer Coating as a Promising Candidate for Reducing Electrode Contamination and Noise in Complex Biofluids

Label-Free Detection of CA19-9 Using a BSA/Graphene-Based Antifouling Electrochemical Immunosensor

Evaluating the levels of the biomarker carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) is crucial in early cancer diagnosis and prognosis assessment. In this study, an antifouling electrochemical immunosensor was developed for the label-free detection of CA19-9, in which bovine serum albumin (BSA) and graphene were cross-linked with the aid of glutaraldehyde to form a 3D conductive porous network on the surface of an electrode. The electrochemical immunosensor was characterized through the use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), UV spectroscopy, and electrochemical methods. The level of CA19-9 was determined through the use of label-free electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. The electron transfer at the interface of the electrode was well preserved in human serum samples, demonstrating that this electrochemical immunosensor has excellent antifouling performance. CA19-9 could be detected in a wide range from 13.5 U/mL to 1000 U/mL, with a detection limit of 13.5 U/mL in human serum samples. This immunosensor also exhibited good selectivity and stability. The detection results of this immunosensor were further validated and compared using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All the results confirmed that this immunosensor has a good sensing performance in terms of CA19-9, suggesting its promising application prospects in clinical applications.

Disregarded Free Chains Affect Bacterial Adhesion on Cross-Linked Polydimethylsiloxane Surfaces

The surface properties exhibited by chemically cross-linked polydimethylsiloxanes (CPDMS) such as morphology, stiffness, and wettability have garnered great interest in the study of bacteria-material interactions. Nevertheless, the hidden factor of uncross-linked free PDMS chains that dissociate in CPDMS has often been overlooked when studying the biofilm formation on these polymeric elastomer surfaces. Here, we undertake a comparative characterization of the effects of free chains in CPDMS on bacterial adhesion to both flat and textured Sharklet CPDMS surfaces. Surprisingly, compared to unextracted surfaces, removing free chains from flat and textured CPDMS through solvent extraction results in a tremendous increase in bacterial colony-forming units for both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria up to 2-3 orders in the initial adhesion stage of 2 h. These findings demonstrate that the solvent extraction of free chains from CPDMS is essential in studying the interactions between bacteria and silicone elastomer materials when focusing on a single variable.

pH-Activated Dissolvable Polymeric Coatings to Reduce Biofouling on Electrochemical Sensors

Implantable electrochemical sensors that enable the real-time detection of significant biomarkers offer huge potential for the enhancement and personalisation of therapies; however, biofouling is a key challenge encountered by any implantable system. This is particularly an issue immediately after implantation, when the foreign body response and associated biofouling processes are at their most active in passivating a foreign object. Here, we present the development of a sensor protection and activation strategy against biofouling, based on coatings consisting of a pH-triggered, dissolvable polymer, that covered a functionalised electrode surface. We demonstrate that reproducible delayed sensor activation can be achieved, and that the length of this delay can be controlled by the optimisation of coating thickness, homogeneity and density through tuning of the coating method and temperature. Comparative evaluation of the polymer-coated and uncoated probe-modified electrodes in biological media revealed significant improvements in their anti-biofouling characteristics, demonstrating that this offers a promising approach to the design of enhanced sensing devices.

Omniphobic liquid-like surfaces

Liquid-repellent surfaces, especially smooth solid surfaces with covalently grafted flexible polymer brushes or alkyl monolayers, are the focus of an expanding research area. Surface-tethered flexible species are highly mobile at room temperature, giving solid surfaces a unique liquid-like quality and unprecedented dynamical repellency towards various liquids regardless of their surface tension. Omniphobic liquid-like surfaces (LLSs) are a promising alternative to air-mediated superhydrophobic or superoleophobic surfaces and lubricant-mediated slippery surfaces, avoiding fabrication complexity and air/lubricant loss issues. More importantly, the liquid-like molecular layer controls many important interface properties, such as slip, friction and adhesion, which may enable novel functions and applications that are inaccessible with conventional solid coatings. In this Review, we introduce LLSs and their inherent dynamic omniphobic mechanisms. Particular emphasis is given to the fundamental principles of surface design and the consequences of the liquid-like nature for task-specific applications. We also provide an overview of the key challenges and opportunities for omniphobic LLSs.

Super-Slippery Poly(Dimethylsiloxane) Brush Surfaces: From Fabrication to Practical Application

Superwetting surfaces with special slippery performances have been the focus of practical applications and basic research for decades. Compared to superhydrophobic/superoleophobic and slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS), liquid-like covalently attached poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) brush surfaces have no trouble in constructing the micro/nanostructure and the loss of infused lubricant, meanwhile, it can also provide lots of new advantages, such as smooth, transparent, pressure- and temperature-resistant, and low contact angle hysteresis (CAH) to diverse liquids. This paper focuses on the relationship between the wetting performance and practical functional application of PDMS brush surfaces. Recent progress of the preparation of PDMS brush surfaces and their super-slippery performances, with a special focus on diverse functional applications were summarized. Finally, perspectives on future research directions are also discussed.

The Bioanalytical and Biomedical Applications of Polymer Modified Substrates

Polymers with different structures and morphology have been extensively used to construct functionalized surfaces for a wide range of applications because the physicochemical properties of polymers can be finely adjusted by their molecular weights, polydispersity and configurations, as well as the chemical structures and natures of monomers. In particular, the specific functions of polymers can be easily achieved at post-synthesis by the attachment of different kinds of active molecules such as recognition ligand, peptides, aptamers and antibodies. In this review, the recent advances in the bioanalytical and biomedical applications of polymer modified substrates were summarized with subsections on functionalization using branched polymers, polymer brushes and polymer hydrogels. The review focuses on their applications as biosensors with excellent analytical performance and/or as nonfouling surfaces with efficient antibacterial activity. Finally, we discuss the perspectives and future directions of polymer modified substrates in the development of biodevices for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases.

Design and construction of a hydrophilic coating on macroporous adsorbent resins for enrichment of glycopeptides

Although macroporous adsorbent resins (MARs) have been commercialized and widely applied in industrial and life fields, it is still of necessity to develop simple approaches to functionalize MARs. One of the most widely used methods to realize excellent fouling resistance performance is surface modification of hydrophilic polymers on substrates to fabricate an anti-biofouling coating. Herein, three kinds of hydrophilic poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) MAR were designed and facilely prepared by coating a layer of porous organic polymers (POPs) via either an epoxy-amine ring-opening polymerization or amine-aldehyde condensation reaction using isophthalaldehyde (IPA), 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (cyclen), melamine and 1,3,5-triglycidyl isocyanurate (TGIC) as precursors. By taking advantage of their merits, such as large surface area, excellent hydrophilicity and unbiased affinity toward all types of glycopeptide, three functionalized hydrophilic MARs were successfully applied to capture glycopeptides from complex samples as hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) sorbents. A total of 694 N-glycopeptides and 372 N-glycosylation sites were identified from 2 μL of human serum digest with poly(TC)@MAR, which were not only more than those of poly(MT)@MAR (286 N-glycosylation sites and 547 N-glycopeptides) and poly(IM)@MAR (669 N-glycopeptides and 355 N-glycosylation sites), but also more than those of other reported HILIC materials. This work provided a new and simple way to synthesize enrichment materials for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis of glycoproteomes.

Integrated Multiplex Sensing Bandage for In Situ Monitoring of Early Infected Wounds

Infection, the most common complication of chronic wounds, has placed tremendous burden on patients and society. Existing care strategies could hardly reflect in situ wound status, resulting in overly aggressive or conservative therapeutic options. Multiplexed tracking of wound markers to obtain diagnostic information in a more accurate way is highly promising and in great demand for the emerging development of personalized medicine. Here, an integrated multiplex sensing bandage (MSB) system, including a multiplex sensor array (MSA), a corresponding flexible circuit, and a mobile application, was developed for real-time monitoring of sodium, potassium, calcium, pH, uric acid, and temperature indicators in the wound site to provide a quantitative diagnostic basis. The MSB was optimized for wound-oriented management applications, which exhibits a broad linear response, excellent selectivity, temporal stability, mechanical stability, reproducibility, and reliable signal transmission performance on the aforementioned physiological indicators. The results of in vivo experiments demonstrate that the MSA is capable of real-time monitoring of actual wounds as well as early prediction of infection. The results ultimately point to the potential clinical applicability of the MSB, which might benefit the quantifications of the complexity and diversity of the wound healing process. This work provides a unique strategy that holds promise for broad application in optimizing wound management and even coping with other diseases.