Preparation and Performance of Amphiphilic Polyurethane Copolymers with Capsaicin-Mimic and PEG Moieties for Protein Resistance and Antibacteria

Antifouling (AF) coatings have been a research focus on effectively resisting biocontamination of equipment applied in the aquatic environments. The amphiphilic ternary copolymers P(H–P–A) composed of N-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl)acrylamide (HMBA), poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate, and 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate were synthesized by free-radical polymerization. Then the polyurethane (PU) copolymer coatings with capsaicin and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) moieties were prepared by cross-linking with polymeric phenyl methanediisocyanate. Fourier transform infrared and 1H NMR were employed for chemical structural analysis of the products. The surface composition and concentration of nitrogen atoms on the copolymer films were quantitatively analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The AF properties of the copolymers were assessed by static protein adsorption and antibacterial tests. The targeted copolymer film samples can achieve an average antibacterial efficiency of 93.3% and a protein-resistant rate of 97.3%, which demonstrated that P(H–P–A) is a potential environmentally friendly material for AF application.