This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to enable the batch production of ultra-low fouling and functionalizable polycarboxybetaine (pCB) surface coatings. The approach is to develop a new route for the cost-effective and large-scale production of the zwitterionic carboxybetaine (CB) monomers. A novel approach to prepare high quality pCB surface coatings will also be investigated.
The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to provide zwitterionic materials/surface coatings technology for applications in medical devices and biosensors, drug delivery and consumer products. Zwitterionic pCB is not only highly resistant to nonspecific protein adsorption, but also has abundant functional groups for the convenient and effective immobilization of biomolecules via conventional chemistry. This makes pCB an ideal choice for many applications from diagnostics to drug delivery. However, one of the major challenges in manufacturing of pCB coatings is that CB monomers are not commercially available. This project will address this challenge by developing a process for large-scale production of CB monomers and pCB coatings.
SBIR Phase I Project Outcome Report The objectives of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project from Zwitter Technology LLC are to (a) develop a new approach for the cost-effective and large-scale production of zwitterionic carboxybetaine-based monomers and polymers; (b) develop a new approach for the batch production of ultralow fouling and functionalizable poly(carboxybetaine) (pCB) surface coatings using controlled polymerization methods; (c) explore the production of pCB surface coatings with high protein immobilization capacities. Ultra low fouling zwitterionic materials and surfaces are very useful for a wide range of engineering and medical applications such as medical devices, drug delivery, tissue engineering and marine coatings. During the Phase I project, extensive work has been performed to fulfill the three objectives mentioned above: 1) one method for materials synthesis has been developed, which is simple, cost-effective, environmentally friendly and easy for very large-scale manufacturing; 2) pCB-coated chips have been scaled up using a reactor specifically designed and developed for this work. As compared to conventional methods, the new surface grafting polymerization method exhibits many advantages, e.g., fast reaction rate, low processing cost, simple equipment, easy scale up, and no/low contamination. The new polymerization method can be readily scaled up to the pilot production scale. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurements confirm that these CB coated gold chips are non-fouling from fibrinogen, lysozyme, undiluted blood serum or undiluted blood plasma. These chips can also be functionalized using a commonly used method. Resulting functionalized surfaces can be applied to the detection of biomarkers in complex media such as undiluted human blood plasma; 3) The functionalization level is improved by optimizing coating surfaces. Ultralow fouling and functionalizable surfaces are very useful for such applications as cancer diagnostics and food safety monitoring.
