Functional and stimuli-responsive synthetic polymers represent one of the most exciting and emerging areas of scientific interest with a wide range of potential applications in nano- and bio-technology.1 During the last three decades, scientists have been trying to mimic nature in designing “smart” synthetic materials, using various functional molecular building blocks, for a plethora of applications, including sensors, logic operations, biomedicine, tissue engineering, synthetic muscles, “smart” optical/electromechanical systems, membranes, electronics and “smart” surfaces.2 Herein our latest developments in this field3,4 are presented.
In the first part of my talk, I will discuss our recent approaches towards the development of versatile, multi-functional polymer surfaces exhibiting controllable antimicrobial properties in the solid state. Two types of polymeric surfaces were developed comprising (i) antifouling-bactericidal mixed polymer brushes grown on glass/silicon substrates by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization5 and (ii) self-polishing-bactericidal polymer films formed from symmetric amphiphilic diblock copolymers comprising a hydrophobic and hydrolysable block and a hydrophilic, cationic polyelectrolyte block synthesized by group transfer polymerization.6 These polymer surfaces exhibit dual antifouling-biocidal and biocidal-self-renewal properties leading to a long-lasting antimicrobial activity and address current limitations in antibacterial/bactericidal surfaces which become inactive when covered by dead bacteria.
In the second part, two types of photo-sensitive materials will be described: (i) triple stimuli-responsive diblock copolymers and hybrid colloidal particles.7 The unpresented light-induced formation and disruption of responsive hollow polymer capsules from hybrid core-shell particles and the synergistic stimulus response of diblock copolymers, which resulted in structural reorganization and hierarchical self-assembly into complex structures in the micro- and milli-scale, was reported; (ii) novel photodegradable polyacetals undergoing main chain scission upon light irradiation.8 The polymer degradation at very low energies, in the absence of free radical intermediates, to produce non-toxic, low molecular weight by-products, was reported for the first time and renders these polymers highly attractive in a variety of applications in the biomedical field such as in cell patterning/harvesting and in photo-controlled drug delivery.
For forthcoming colloquia, please see: http://www.materials.uoc.gr/el/colloquia