Development, Validation, and Performance of Chitosan-Based Coatings Using Catechol Coupling

The use of long-lasting polymer coatings on biodevice surfaces has been investigated to improve material-tissue interaction, minimize adverse effects, and enhance their functionality. Natural polymers, especially chitosan, are of particular interest due to their excellent biological properties, such as biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and antimicrobial properties. One way to produce chitosan coating is by covalent grafting with catechol molecules such as dopamine, caffeic acid, and tannic acid, resulting in an attachment ten times stronger than that of simple physisorption. Caffeic acid presents an advantage over dopamine because it allows direct chitosan grafting, due to its terminal carboxylic acid group, without the need of a linking arm, as employed in the dopamine approach. In this study, the grafting of chitosan using caffeic acid, over surfaces or in solution, is compared with dopamine grafting using poly(ethylene glycol) as a linking arm. The following coating properties are observed; covering and homogeneity are assessed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy analyses, hydrophilicity with contact angle measurements, stability with aging tests, anticorrosion behavior, and coating non-toxicity. Results show that grafting using caffeic acid/chitosan in solution over a metallic surface may be advantageous, compared to traditional dopamine coating.