Unusual Mechanical Performance of Amphiphilic Crosslinked Polymer Networks

Abstract

The mechanical performance of a novel antifouling and fouling-release coating, based upon hyperbranched fluoropolymer-poly(ethylene glycol) amphiphilic crosslinked networks (HBFP-PEG), has been investigated thoroughly before and after swelling in water. It is shown that the elastic modulus (E) depends on the relative weight percentage of hydrophilic PEG components. Semicrystalline PEG-rich domains reinforced the mechanical integrity of the entire HBFP-PEG networks as prepared. However, water swelling in PEG-rich domains rigidified these crosslinked networks at low-weight percentages of PEG (30 and 45 wt %) and softened them at high-weight percentages of PEG (55 and 63 wt %). The tunability of their mechanical properties, the intrinsic characteristics of fluoropolymer and PEG, in combination with the nanoscopic surface and subsurface features have suggested that HBFP-PEG amphiphilic networks may be widely applicable in the design of novel biomedical devices.