Mildly Rewritable Polymer Brushes Enabled by Multiple Hydrogen Bonds of Complementary Nucleobases

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Supramolecular Chemistry

Background:

• Rewritable polymer brushes are crucial for functional surfaces but often suffer from poor reversibility and harsh conditions.
• Existing methods rely on structural or chemical changes, limiting their practical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel supramolecular approach for creating mildly rewritable polymer brushes.
• To achieve tunable surface properties and enhanced reversibility using bioinspired nucleobases and multiple hydrogen bonds (MHBs).

Main Methods:

• Employed a "grafting from" strategy to synthesize dense nucleobase-containing polymer brushes.
• Anchored complementary nucleobase-functionalized copolymers with tunable hydrophilic blocks.
• Utilized multiple hydrogen bonds (MHBs) between complementary nucleobases for surface property modulation.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated rewritable polymer brushes with thermoresponsive, pH-responsive, and protein-resistant properties.
• Demonstrated strong MHBs enabling property tuning irrespective of polymer block composition.
• Achieved excellent cyclic stability for property variations and controlled protein capture/release.

Conclusions:

• The supramolecular approach offers a mild and efficient method for creating rewritable polymer brushes.
• These brushes exhibit dynamic reversibility and tunable functionalities, suitable for biomedical applications like protein bioconcentration.