Temperature-responsive polymer “nanobrushes” as new antibacterial materials for packaging of food
Students Name: Shymborska Yana Andriivna
Qualification Level: master (ESP)
Speciality: Chemical Technology and Engineering
Institute: Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technologies
Mode of Study: full
Academic Year: 2019-2020 н.р.
Language of Defence: ukrainian
Abstract: In the presented work “smart” antibacterial surfaces based on silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) embedded in temperature-responsive poly(4-vinylpyridine) – P4VP, poly(oligo(ethylene glycol)ethyl ether methacrylate246) – POEGMA246, poly(4-vinylpyridine-co-oligo(ethylene glycol)ethyl ether methacrylate246) – P(4VP-co-OEGMA246), poly(di(ethylene glycol)methyl ether methacrylate) - POEGMA188 coatings attached to glass using oligoperoxide initiator were successfully fabricated. The composition, thickness, morphology and wettability of the resulting coatings were analyzed using ToF-SIMS, XPS, EDX, ellipsometry, SEM and CA measurements, respectively. Strong impact of the chemical nature of the grafted polymer brushes on the shape (sphere-like shape, nanorods and weakly branched dendritic nanostructures), size and amount of the silver nanoparticles was shown. In addition, the influence of the temperature on coating morphology and optical effects of the silver nanoparticles were demonstrated using AFM and UV–VIS spectroscopy. Temperature-switched killing of the bacteria was tested against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 at 4 and 37°C. Keywords: Grafted polymer nanobrushes, Silver nanoparticles, Smart surface, Temperature-responsive, POEGMA, P4VP.