Antifouling surfaces, methods of manufacture thereof and articles comprising the same
View Patent ↗Disclosed herein is an article comprising a substrate; a polymer disposed upon the substrate; the polymer having a number average molecular weight of about 2,000 to about 5,000 grams per mole; where each polymer is separated from a neighboring polymer by an average distance of 2.5 Angstroms to 5,000 Angstroms. Disclosed herein is a method comprising disposing upon a substrate a polymer; the polymer having a number average molecular weight of 2,000 to about 5,000 grams per mole.
1. An article comprising:
a polymeric substrate; where the polymeric substrate is functionalized with a reactive group;
a polymer disposed upon the substrate; the polymer having a number average molecular weight of about 2,000 to about 5,000 grams per mole; where the polymer is a copolymer consisting of monomers of acrylic acid, acrylamide, acrylamido-2-methyl-propanesulfonate and methyl acrylate.
2. The article of claim 1 , where the reactive group is a silane, a carboxylic acid group, an amine group, a vinyl group, an epoxide group or a combination thereof.
3. The article of claim 1 , where the acrylic acid is present in an amount of about 1 to about 60 wt %, based on the total weight of the polymer; where the acrylamide is present in an amount of about 1 to about 60 wt %, based on the total weight of the polymer; and where the methyl acrylate is present in an amount of about 1 to about 60 wt %, based on the total weight of the polymer and where the acrylamido-2-methyl-propanesulfonate acrylate is present in an amount of about 1 to about 60 wt %, based on the total weight of the polymer.
4. The article of claim 1 , where the article produces a reduction in biosettling of about 50 to about 100 percent when compared with a comparative surface that does not contain the polymer.
5. The article of claim 1 , having a second polymer having a number average molecular weight of greater than 5,000 grams per mole disposed upon the substrate.
6. The article of claim 1 , where the article is a ship.
7. The article of claim 1 , where the article is a hospital surface that is contacted by living beings.
8. The article of claim 1 , where the article is blood thinner.
9. The article of claim 1 , where the article has a textured surface.
10. The article of claim 1 , where the article has a smooth surface.
11. The article of claim 1 , where each polymer chain is separated from a neighboring polymer chain by an average distance of about 2.5 Angstroms to about 5,000 Angstroms.
12. A method comprising:
disposing upon a polymeric substrate a polymer; the polymer having a number average molecular weight of 2,000 to about 5,000 grams per mole; where the polymer is a copolymer consisting of monomers of acrylic acid, acrylamide, acrylamido-2-methyl-propanesulfonate and methyl acrylate; and where the polymeric substrate is functionalized with a reactive group.
13. The method of claim 12 , where the disposing comprises reacting covalently the polymer with the substrate.