Water-immiscible bioinert coatings and film formation from aqueous dispersions of poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) microspheres

Poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) (pMEA) microspheres are prepared through facile free-radical polymerization in water without additives and impurities, such as surfactants, other polymers, and organic solvents, which are usually used to synthesize pMEA chains. Clean and pure (non-factionalized and non-cross-linking) pMEA microspheres exhibit plasma protein adsorption resistances on their surface regardless of their charged state. They are characterized in terms of the adsorbed amounts of proteins at pH 7. In addition, these soft and deformable pMEA microspheres are suitable for forming substrates coated with pMEA microspheres and free-standing films by injecting pMEA dispersion and evaporating the aqueous medium through fusion between the pMEA chains at the surface without the precoating agent and cross-linker. These pMEA coatings have been used till now in artificial heart/lung fabrication and metal products manufacturing by casting organic solvents such as 1,4-dioxane, toluene, and methanol and dissolving pMEA chains prepared using conventional solution polymerization. In this study, bioinert coatings and adhesive and transferable films are easily obtained due to the rubber-like properties of the pMEA microspheres and stable in mild and biocompatible conditions even when these impurities are not used completely, allowing us to provide a guideline for potential pMEA bioapplications such as coatings, films, barriers, and implant devices. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.