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Abstract
This dissertation aims to both deepen and broaden our understanding of copolymer with pendent benzophenone (BP) in mechanism, kinetics and applications. Photo-activated of BP copolymers have been widely used in robust and efficiently functional polymer films combining with delicate nano- or micro- structures to achieve specialized interfacial properties of substrates. Herein, we focused on zwitterionic copolymer with pendent BP. A series of zwitterionic copolymers was synthesized with different hydrophilicity and polarity, and a linear decrease on crosslinking rate constant was observed with the increase of partition coefficient, logP. This linear correlation was confirmed valid for the zwitterionic copolymer with glass transition temperature lower than room temperature. However, for the zwitterionic polymer with high glass transition temperature, the chemical environment (polymer polarity) was not the dominated factor anymore, and the crosslinking rate decreased due to the restrict segment movement. The ring substituent also demonstrated great influence in BP kinetics for BP pendent copolymer. For the BP containing copolymer applications, a zwitterionic copolymer, 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine-co-butyl methacrylate-co-benzophenone (BPMPC), was covalently crosslink to nitric oxide releasing substrates, and demonstrated excellent antifouling and antimicrobial properties. The protein adsorption test results indicate a significant reduction (~84-93%) of protein adhesion on the test samples compared to the control samples. Test samples containing both NO donor and BPMPC show a 99.91 0.06 % reduction of viable bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, when compared to control samples. Another application, antifogging and self-cleaning polymer was immobilized on glass and plastic surface using a BP pendent copolymer that were prepared using free radical polymerization. The optical clarity of the substrates is not impacted by the polymer coating, and even slightly improved due to the lower refractive index of the polymer relative to glass. The coatings exhibit excellent chemical and mechanical resistance and maintain antifogging properties after abrasion testing in the presence of either chemical detergents or common household cleaners. In addition, the reason of contact angle increase for BPMPC under UV was explained. The mechanism of BPMPC demonstrate antifogging and antifouling properties with relatively poor hydrophilicity was also discussed.