Novel Anti-Biofouling Soft Contact Lens: I-Cysteine Conjugated Amphiphilic Conetworks via RAFT and Thiol-Ene Click Chemistry

A unique I-cysteine conjugated antifouling amphiphilic conetwork (APCN) is synthesized through end-crosslinking of well-defined triblock copolymers poly(allyl methacrylate)-b-poly( ethylene glycol)-b-poly(allyl methacrylate) via a combination of reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and thiol-ene click chemistry. The synthesized poly(ethylene glycol) macro-RAFT agent initiates the polymerization of allyl methacrylate in a controlled manner. The vinyl pendant groups of the precursor partially conjugate with I-cysteine and the rest fully crosslink with mercaptopropyl-containing siloxane via thiolene click chemistry under UV irradiation into APCNs, which show distinguished properties, that is, excellent biocompatibility, more than 39.6% water content, 101 barrers oxygen permeability, optimized mechanical properties, and more than 93% visible light transmittance. What's more, the resultant APCNs exhibit eminent resistance to protein adsorption, where the bovine serum albumin and lysozyme adsorption are decreased to 12 and 21 mu g cm(-2), respectively. The outstanding properties of APCNs depend on the RAFT controlled method, which precisely designs the hydrophilic/hydrophobic segments and eventually greatly improves the crosslinking efficiency and homogeneity. Meantime, the I-cysteine monolayer can effectively reduce the surface hydrophobicity and prevent protein adsorption, which exhibits the viability for antifouling surface over and under ophthalmic devices, suggesting a promising soft contact lens.