Surface‐Initiated Grafting of Dendritic Polyglycerol from Mussel‐Inspired Adhesion‐Layers for the Creation of Cell‐Repelling Coatings

Abstract Biofouling is a major challenge in the application of textiles, biosensors, and biomedical implants. In the current work, a straightforward method for the solvent‐free polymerization of antifouling dendritic polyglycerol (dPG) from mussel‐inspired dendritic polyglycerol (MI‐dPG) coatings on hydrophilic titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is reported. Surface characterization is performed by static water contact angle (CA) measurements, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Significant lower CA values are obtained after dPG grafting from MI‐dPG‐coated TiO₂ and MI‐dPG coated PDMS. Furthermore, XPS shows a time‐dependent increase of the CO bond content upon dPG grafting from MI‐dPG‐coated TiO₂ and MI‐dPG‐coated PDMS. Analysis of the surface morphology by SEM shows a clear time‐dependent increase in the surface roughness upon dPG grafting from MI‐dPG‐coated TiO₂ and MI‐dPG‐coated PDMS. When the viability of two adhesive cell types is studied via LIVE/DEAD staining, a strong reduction in the cell density is observed after the dPG grafting from MI‐dPG‐coated TiO₂ and MI‐dPG‐coated PDMS (a decrease of >95% in all cases). The combined results show that biocompatible but highly cell‐repelling surfaces are efficiently constructed via the grafting of dPG from MI‐dPG‐coated TiO₂ and MI‐dPG‐coated PDMS.