Polymer Brushes that Mimic Repulsive Properties of the Boundary Lubricant Glycoprotein Lubricin

This is a report on the design of tailored functional groups which mimic the repulsive forces at work in the natural-joint boundary lubricant known as \textit{lubricin}. \textit{Lubricin}, an amphiphilic polyelectrolyte biomolecule, decreases friction and \textit{cellular adhesion} by exhibiting surface force fields based on \textit{steric hindrance}, \textit{Debye electrostatic double layer repulsion} and \textit{hydration repulsive forces}. We have identified a physically and chemically stable candidate polymers for anti-fouling coatings that will mimic lubricin's repulsive properties. Synthetic polymer brushes mimicking lubricin have been produced using these polymers grafted onto a glass surfaces. The average adhesive forces for the polymer brushes measured through atomic force microscopy are as low (56.796 $\pm $ 0.796 mN/m), similar to those exhibited by lubricin coated surfaces and on the same order of magnitude as superhydrophobic surfaces.