Functional surfaces obtained from emulsion polymerization using antimicrobial glycosylated block copolymers as surfactants

In this work, antimicrobial glycosylated block copolymers were successfully immobilized onto polymeric surfaces by using them as surfactants in butyl methacrylate emulsion polymerization. In particular several amphiphilic block copolymers of various compositions were employed, all consisting of a poly(butyl methacrylate) hydrophobic segment and a statistical copolymer containing quaternized trimethylaminoethyl methacrylate and 2-(D-glucosamin-2-N-yl)carbonylethyl methacrylate glycomonomer as a hydrophilic block. The influence of the antimicrobial polymeric surfactant structure and solid content on the emulsion polymerization was investigated in detail. It was demonstrated that the efficiency of the surfactant is highly dependent on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance; in general the surface-active properties get worse with an excess of hydrophilicity. Monodisperse and stable latexes stabilized with an antimicrobial polymeric surfactant were successfully obtained and then employed to form active films. The film formation process under thermal treatments was followed and confirmed by AFM. The surface functionality of the films was tested by analyzing the interaction of glycounits of the surface with Concanavalin A lectin by fluorescence spectroscopy. In addition, the antimicrobial capability of these films against Gram-positive bacteria and yeast was demonstrated whereas the leaching of the surfactants to the media was discarded. Graphical abstract: Functional surfaces obtained from emulsion polymerization using antimicrobial glycosylated block copolymers as surfactant