Electropolymerized bioresistant coatings of OEGylated dendron carbazoles: Design parameters and protein resistance SPR studies

The electrografting of oligoethylene glycol or (OEG)ylated carbazole linear dendrons and their protein adsorption resistance properties have been investigated by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy. A series of the carbazole dendron generations, G0, G1, G2 were synthesized and electrodeposited by cyclic voltammetry (CV) on Au-glass substrate which also served as a surface for evanescent waveguide excitation in SPR. In addition, the films were characterized by in-situ electrochemical SPR (EC-SPR), static water contact angle, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. It was observed that electropolymerized films prepared from the higher generation linear-dendron G2, is most effective in preventing non-specific protein adsorption as observed by SPR kinetic measurements using fibrinogen as model protein. Film thickness also played a critical role in protein adsorption resistance - electrodeposition approaching monolayer thickness gave the highest protein resistance. In addition, the films were evaluated for non-specific protein binding against the smaller proteins, lysozyme and bovine serum albumin (BSA). The study provides insight to manipulating the architecture and composition of protein resistant materials deposited on metals and semi-conducting substrates and their possible use in biomedical applications.