Model Diels–Alder Studies for the Creation of Amphiphilic Cross-Linked Networks as Healable, Antibiofouling Coatings

Diels–Alder (DA) chemistry was used in the construction of amphiphilic cross-linked polymer networks comprised of furan-functionalized hyperbranched fluoropolymers and maleimide-functionalized linear poly­(ethylene glycol)­s, which were designed as antibiofouling coatings capable of repair. Discrete molecules and a linear polymer analog were studied as model systems to understand the nature of the thermally reversible [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction involving a tetrafluorobenzylfuranyl ether unit, which was part of the structure for the incorporation of the DA functionalities into the composite network materials. Atomic force microscopy confirmed the complex, nanoscopically resolved topography needed for antibiofouling. Bright field and fluorescence imaging monitored healing at damage sites as well as the ability of the coatings to resist protein adsorption