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Updated: Nov 20, 2025

Interfacial Molecular-level Structures of Polymers and Biomacromolecules Revealed via Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy
Published on: August 13, 2019
Interfacial Structures and Fibrinogen Adsorption at Blood-Compatible Polymer/Water Interfaces
Daiki Murakami1, Shingo Kobayashi1, Masaru Tanaka1
1Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering, Kyushu University, CE41, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
Abstract:
The interfacial structures of a blood-compatible polymer, poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) (PMEA), and several analogues were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The blood-compatible polymers exhibited nanometer-scale protrusions that spontaneously and homogeneously formed at polymer/water and polymer/phosphate-buffered saline interfaces. AFM observation also revealed that fibrinogen adsorption occurred locally on the protrusions rather than uniformly at the interface, with the regions adjacent to the protrusions apparently preventing the adsorption of fibrinogen. The formation of these interfacial structures may be due to in-plane microphase separation of polymer and water at the interface.
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