Grafting of\nPoly(ionic liquid) Brushes through Fe⁰‑Mediated\nSurface-Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization\nfor Marine Antifouling

Abstract

Surface-tethered\npoly(ionic liquid) brushes have attracted considerable\nattention in widespread fields, from bioengineering to marine antifouling.\nHowever, their applications have been constrained due to the poor\npolymerization efficiency and sophisticated operation process. In\nthis work, we efficiently synthesized the poly(ionic liquid) brushes\nwith unparalleled speed (up to 98 nm h^–1) through\nFe⁰-mediated surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization\n(Fe⁰ SI-ATRP) while consuming only microliter of monomer\nsolution under ambient conditions. We also demonstrated that poly(ionic\nliquid) brushes with gradient thickness and wettability were easily\naccessible by regulating the distance between the opposite plates\nof Fe⁰ SI-ATRP. Moreover, the resultant poly(ionic liquid)\nbrushes presented excellent antibacterial activities against <i>Escherichia coli</i> (99.2%) and <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> (88.1%) after 24 h and low attachment for proteins and marine algae\n(≤5%) for over 2 weeks. This research provided pathways to\nthe facile and controllable fabrication of poly(ionic liquid) materials\nfor marine antifouling applications.