Protein-Resistant Surfaces through Mild Dopamine Surface Functionalization

The synthesis and evaluation of new dopamine-based catechol anchors coupled to poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) for surface modification of TiO2 are reported. Dopamine is modified by dimethylamine-methylene or trimethylammonium- methylene groups, and the preparation of mPEG-Glu didopamine polymer 11 is presented. All these PEG polymers allow stable adlayers on TiO2 to be generated through mild dip-and-rinse procedures, as evaluated both by variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The resulting surfaces substantially reduced protein adsorption upon exposure to full human serum.