Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Graft Copolymer Membranes with “Clickable” Surfaces and Their Functionalization

Thiol-Ene Click Reaction in Constructing Liquid Separation Membranes for Water Treatment

In the evolving landscape of water treatment, membrane technology has ascended to an instrumental role, underscored by its unmatched efficacy and ubiquity. Diverse synthesis and modification techniques are employed to fabricate state-of-the-art liquid separation membranes. Click reactions, distinguished by their rapid kinetics, minimal byproduct generation, and simple reaction condition, emerge as a potent paradigm for devising eco-functional materials. While the metal-free thiol-ene click reaction is acknowledged as a viable approach for membrane material innovation, a systematic elucidation of its applicability in liquid separation membrane development remains conspicuously absent. This review elucidates the pre-functionalization strategies of substrate materials tailored for thiol-ene reactions, notably highlighting thiolation and introducing unsaturated moieties. The consequential implications of thiol-ene reactions on membrane properties-including trade-off effect, surface wettability, and antifouling property-are discussed. The application of thiol-ene reaction in fabricating various liquid separation membranes for different water treatment processes, including wastewater treatment, oil/water separation, and ion separation, are reviewed. Finally, the prospects of thiol-ene reaction in designing novel liquid separation membrane, including pre-functionalization, products prediction, and solute-solute separation membrane, are proposed. This review endeavors to furnish invaluable insights, paving the way for expanding the horizons of thiol-ene reaction application in liquid separation membrane fabrication.

Visible Light-Driven D-A Conjugated Linear Polymer and Its Coating for Dual Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation and Disinfection

Herein, a novel donor-acceptor (D-A) conjugated linear polymeric system, poly[(2,6-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)-4-fluorothiophen-2-yl)-benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene))-alt-2,5-(3-carboxyl)-thiophene] (PBDT-F-COOH), with outstanding processing ability and its all-organic PBDT-F-COOH coating featuring chemical bonding for combination with polyurethane were prepared. Wide visible spectrum-driven PBDT-F-COOH and PBDT-F-COOH-PU showed dual efficient photocatalytic activities toward degradation and disinfection, mainly attributing to efficient dissociation of excitons and transfer of charge carriers, resulting from the large dipole moment of D-A PBDT-F-COOH. PBDT-F-COOH demonstrated >99.2% inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) within 1 h and a 7-log decrease in 4 h under visible light irradiation. Additionally, the coating showed the 7-log inactivation of S. aureus in 7 h. These inactivation efficiency results are among those of the best reported D-A conjugated linear polymers. Importantly, PBDT-F-COOH and the PBDT-F-COOH-PU coating both presented satisfactory stability with high photocatalytic activity after recycling runs. This work provides a feasible approach for fabricating nontoxic and highly active organic photocatalysts with wide visible spectra and a large dipole moment via a D-A linear structure design protocol.

Synthesis of alkynyl-functionalized linear and star polyethers by aluminium-catalyzed copolymerization of glycidyl 3-butynyl ether with epichlorohydrin and ethylene oxide

A novel family of alkynyl-functional linear and star polyethers were prepared by the copolymerization of glycidyl 3-butynyl ether, ethylene oxide and epichlorohydrin catalyzed by i-Bu₃Al/H₃PO₄/DBU.

Introduction of Nature's Complexity in Engineered Blood-compatible Biomaterials

Biomaterials with excellent blood-compatibility are needed for applications in vascular replacement therapies, such as vascular grafts, heart valves and stents, and in extracorporeal devices such as hemodialysis machines and blood-storage bags. The modification of materials that are being used for blood-contacting devices has advanced from passive surface modifications to the design of more complex, smart biomaterials that respond to relevant stimuli from blood to counteract coagulation. Logically, the main source of inspiration for the design of new biomaterials has been the endogenous endothelium. Endothelial regulation of hemostasis is complex and involves a delicate interplay of structural components and feedback mechanisms. Thus, challenges to develop new strategies for blood-compatible biomaterials now lie in incorporating true feedback controlled mechanisms that can regulate blood compatibility in a dynamic way. Here, supramolecular material systems are highlighted as they provide a promising platform to introduce dynamic reciprocity, due to their inherent dynamic nature.

Construction of Hierarchical Fouling Resistance Surfaces onto Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Membranes for Combating Membrane Biofouling

Owing to the highly hydrophobic nature, fluoropolymer membranes usually suffer from serious fouling problem, and therefore largely limited their practical applications. Also, the development of environmentally benign and nonreleasing antifouling coatings onto the inert fluoropolymer membranes remains a great challenge and is of prime importance for various scientific interests and industrial applications. In the present work, a facile and effective approach for the construction of hierarchical fouling resistance surfaces onto the poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes was developed. Graft copolymers of PVDF with poly(hyperbranched polyglycerol methacrylamide) side chains (PVDF-g-PHPGMA copolymers) were synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) graft copolymerization of pentafluorophenyl methacrylate (PFMA) with the ozone-preactivated PVDF, followed by activated ester-amine reaction of PPFMA chains with amino-terminated hyperbranched polyglycerol (HPG-NH₂). The copolymers could be simply processed into microfiltration (MF) membranes with surface-tethered PHPGMA side chains on the membrane and pore surfaces by nonsolvent induced phase inversion. Furthermore, the PVDF-g-PHPGMA-g-PSBMA membrane was prepared via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) of zwitterionic monomer, N-(3-sulfopropyl)-N-(methacryloxyethyl)-N,N-dimethylammonium betaine (SBMA) from the PVDF-g-PHPGMA membrane and pore surfaces. Arise from a synergistic effect of the dendritic architecture of PHPGMA branches and "superhydrophilic" nature of PSBMA brushes, the PVDF-g-PHPGMA-g-PSBMA membranes exhibit superior resistance to protein and bacteria adhesion with insignificant cytotoxicity effects, making the membranes potentially useful for water treatment and biomedical applications. One may find the present study a general and effective method for the fabrication of antifouling fluoropolymer membranes in a controllable and green manner.

Multifunctionalization of Poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Reactive Copolymer Blend Membranes for Broad Spectrum Applications

Simultaneous immobilization and cross-linking of antifouling/low toxic polymers, e.g., poly(ethylenimine) (PEI), dextran (Dex), agarose (Agr), poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), PEI-Dex, and PEI-PEG conjugates, and stimuli-responsive copolymers on a porous membrane surface in mild reaction conditions is desirable for the enhancement of hydrophilicity, antifouling character, cytocompatibility, and inducing stimuli-responsive behavior. Grafting to technique is required since the precursors of most of these macromolecules are not amenable to surface-initiated polymerization. In this work, we report a versatile process for the simultaneous immobilization and cross-linking of a library of macromolecules on and into the blend membrane (PVDF-blend) of poly(vinylidene fluoride) and poly(methyl methacrylate)-co-poly(chloromethylstyrene). Sequential nucleophilic substitution reaction between activated halide moieties of the copolymer and amine groups of different macromolecules readily provided series of modified membranes. These membranes exhibited antifouling property superior to that of the unmodified membrane. The effectiveness of this technique has been demonstrated by the immobilization of pH or both pH- and temperature-responsive copolymer on PVDF-blend membrane for responsive separation of poly(ethylene oxide) and bovine serum albumin. Silver nanoparticles were also anchored on the select modified membranes surfaces for the enhancement of antibiofouling property. Our approach is useful to obtain verities of functional membranes and selection of membrane for a particular application.

Versatile and Rapid Postfunctionalization from Cyclodextrin Modified Host Polymeric Membrane Substrate

Surface modification has long been of great interest to impart desired functionalities to the bioimplants. However, due to the limitations of recent technologies in surface modification, it is highly desirable to explore novel protocols, which can advantageously and efficiently endow the inert material surfaces with versatile biofunctionalities. Herein, to achieve versatile and rapid postfunctionalization of polymeric membrane, we demonstrate a new strategy for the fabrication of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) modified host membrane substrate that can recognize a series of well-designed guest macromolecules. The surface assembly procedure was driven by the host-guest interaction between adamantane (Ad) and β-CD. β-CD immobilized host membrane was fabricated via two steps: (1) epoxy groups enriched poly(ether sulfone) (PES) membrane was first prepared via in situ cross-linking polymerization and subsequently phase separation; (2) mono-6-deoxy-6-ethylenediamine-β-CD (EDA-β-CD) was then anchored onto the surface of the epoxy functionalized PES membrane to obtain PES-CD. Subsequently, three types of Ad-terminated polymers, including Ad-poly(styrenesulfonate-co-sodium acrylate) (Ad-PSA), Ad-methoxypoly(ethylene glycol) (Ad-PEG), and Ad-poly(methyl chloride-quaternized 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (Ad-PMT), were separately assembled onto the β-CD immobilized surfaces to endow the membranes with anticoagulant, antifouling, and antibacterial capability, respectively. Activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), and prothrombin time (PT) measurements were carried out to explore the anticoagulant activity. The antifouling capability was evaluated via protein adsorption and platelet adhesion measurements. Moreover, Staphyllococcous aureus (S. aureus) was selected as model bacteria to evaluate the antibacterial ability of the functionalized membranes. The results indicated that well-regulated blood compatibility, antifouling capability, and bactericidal activity could be achieved by the proposed rapid postfunctionalization on polymeric membranes. This approach of versatile and rapid postfunctionalization is promising for the preparation of multifunctional polymeric membrane materials to meet with various demands for the further applications.

When functionalization of PLA surfaces meets Thiol-Yne photochemistry: case study with antibacterial polyaspartamide derivatives

In this work we wish to report on the covalent functionalization of polylactide (PLA) surfaces by photoradical thiol-yne to yield antibacterial surfaces. At first, hydrophilic and hydrophobic thiol fluorescent probes are synthesized and used to study and optimize the conditions of ligation on alkyne-PLA surfaces. In a second part, a new antibacterial polyaspartamide copolymer is covalently grafted. The covalent surface modification and the density of surface functionalization are evaluated by SEC and XPS analyses. No degradation of PLA chains is observed, whereas covalent grafting is confirmed by the presence of S2p and N1s signals. Antiadherence and antibiofilm activities are assessed against four bacterial strains, including Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. A strong activity is observed with adherence reduction factors superior to 99.98% and biofilm formation decreased by 80%. Finally, in vitro cytocompatibility tests of the antibacterial surfaces are performed with L929 murine fibroblasts and show cell viability without promoting proliferation.

Surface self-assembled PEGylation of fluoro-based PVDF membranes via hydrophobic-driven copolymer anchoring for ultra-stable biofouling resistance

Stable biofouling resistance is significant for general filtration requirements, especially for the improvement of membrane lifetime. A systematic group of hyper-brush PEGylated diblock copolymers containing poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA) and polystyrene (PS) was synthesized using an atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) method and varying PEGMA lengths. This study demonstrates the antibiofouling membrane surfaces by self-assembled anchoring PEGylated diblock copolymers of PS-b-PEGMA on the microporous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane. Two types of copolymers are used to modify the PVDF surface, one with different PS/PEGMA molar ratios in a range from 0.3 to 2.7 but the same PS molecular weights (MWs, ∼5.7 kDa), the other with different copolymer MWs (∼11.4, 19.9, and 34.1 kDa) but the similar PS/PEGMA ratio (∼1.7 ± 0.2). It was found that the adsorption capacities of diblock copolymers on PVDF membranes decreased as molar mass ratios of PS/PEGMA ratio reduced or molecular weights of PS-b-PEGMA increased because of steric hindrance. The increase in styrene content in copolymer enhanced the stability of polymer anchoring on the membrane, and the increase in PEGMA content enhanced the protein resistance of membranes. The optimum PS/PEGMA ratio was found to be in the range between 1.5 and 2.0 with copolymer MWs above 20.0 kDa for the ultrastable resistance of protein adsorption on the PEGylated PVDF membranes. The PVDF membrane coated with such a diblock copolymer owned excellent biofouling resistance to proteins of BSA and lysozyme as well as bacterium of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis and high stable microfiltration operated with domestic wastewater solution in a membrane bioreactor.

Surface-functionalizable membranes of polycaprolactone-click-hyperbranched polyglycerol copolymers from combined atom transfer radical polymerization, ring-opening polymerization and click chemistry

Hyperbranched polyglycerols containing terminal alkyne and alkyl bromide groups (CH[triple bond, length as m-dash]C-HPG-Br) were first synthesized via propargyl alcohol-initiated ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of glycidol, followed by reaction of 2-bromoisobutyryl bromide (BIBB) with the hydroxyl groups to introduce the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiators on HPG. Hydrophobic azido-terminated poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL-N₃), prepared a priori via 2-azidoethanol-initiated ROP of ε-caprolactone, was then coupled to the CH[triple bond, length as m-dash]C-HPG-Br polymer through a Cu(i)-catalyzed alkyne-azide click reaction. The resultant linear-hyperbranched PCL-click-HPG copolymers were cast by phase inversion in an aqueous medium into microporous membranes of well-defined and uniform pores. Not only could the HPG contents in the PCL-click-HPG copolymers be used to control the pore size and porosity of the resulting membranes, but also the alkyl halide chain-ends of HPG allowed the subsequent functionalization of membrane and pore surfaces. The PCL-click-HPG-b-PMPC membrane was prepared via surface-initiated ATRP of zwitterionic 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) from the PCL-click-HPG membrane and pore surfaces. The PCL-click-HPG-b-PMPC membranes exhibit good antifouling and antibacterial adhesion properties with negligible cytotoxicity effects, making the membranes potentially useful for biomaterials and biomedical applications.

Thiol-yne coupling: revisiting old concepts as a breakthrough for up-to-date applications

Radical thiol-yne coupling (TYC) has emerged as one of the most appealing click chemistry procedures, appearing as a sound candidate for replacing/complementing other popular click reactions such as the thiol-ene coupling (TEC) and the Cu-catalysed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). Radical TYC is indeed a metal-free reaction suitable for biomedical applications, and its mechanistic features often make it more efficient than its TEC sister reaction and more suitable for multifaceted derivatisations in the materials chemistry and bioconjugation realms. This article reviews the fascinating results obtained in those fields in very recent years.