Recent Advances in Antifouling Surface Polymer Brushes
Xin Xu, Yi-Xin Chang, Yutong Gong, Yuhao Zhang, Ye Yu, Hui Peng, Changkui Fu
Abstract
Biofouling caused by nonspecific adsorption of biomolecules and organisms such as proteins, cells, and bacteria to material surfaces is a significant challenge for numerous important applications. An effective approach to addressing this problem is to coat antifouling polymers on the material surfaces to impart the demanded antifouling properties and repel nonspecific biological adhesion. In this review, we summarized recent advances in surface antifouling polymer brushes which have emerged in the past decade, with a focus on the origin of antifouling properties of polymer brushes, approaches to surface antifouling polymer brushes, key factors that impact antifouling properties, common antifouling polymers used for the construction of surface polymer brushes, and applications of antifouling polymer brushes in a variety of fields.