Nanotheranostic polymer self-assemblies are on the rise. The broad chemical variety of polymers and the wide range of possible combinations with inorganic components allow for the development of a plethora of systems, perfectly adjusted to efficiently image, target, and treat a disease, thereby responding to endogenous or exogenous or a combination of multiple stimuli.

Two new nonionic amphiphiles from a perfluoro-t-butoxy group and a G2 oligoglycerol dendron are synthesized. Both compounds assemble in water to form vesicles with well-defined bilayer membranes. In this process, different linkers enforce a slightly different aggregation behavior. Amide-linked amphiphiles lead to the formation of large multivesicular (MVVs) and multilamellar (MLVs) vesicles as well as smaller unilamellar vesicles (SUVs), while triazolyl-linked amphiphiles cause the exclusive formation of unilamellar vesicles.

Coordination-driven approach to grafting sulfobetaine polymers on solid surfaces is proposed as an effective way to suppress unwanted biofouling. Solid surfaces are precoated with polydopamine, and sulfobetaine polymers are grafted onto these surfaces via the formation of Zr^IV-mediated coordinate bonds. The effect of molecular weight on the grafting efficiency is systematically investigated using various surface characterization techniques.

Simplifying the preparation of multifunctional dressings meets industrial and clinical demand. Herein, a straightforward approach is proposed to construct composited nanofiber membrane by bidirectional electrospinning, where hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs are loaded in hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers, respectively. The fabricated membrane exhibits considerable sustained-release, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory performance. This method applies to other drugs theoretically, and demonstrates potential for industrialization.

The hemocompatibility of various types of state-of-the-art antifouling polymer brushes is studied and related to their outstanding resistance to non-specific protein adsorption. Mass-spectrometric analysis of the composition of fouling deposits reveals the importance of the identity of adsorbed proteins rather than the total adsorbed amount. Surprisingly, full prevention of protein fouling is not required to achieve optimal hemocompatibility.

This study focuses on the construction of new polycationic materials, which can provide a cyclic operation process for the killing and releasing of bacteria, and perform repeated regeneration, which is of great significance for the development of advanced medical biomaterials. The results perform a self-assembled cationic copolymer interface for controlling the counterion-induced bacterial killing/release process.

The curcumin-based universal surface modification method is developed to graft polymer brushes from various substrates. Curcumin coating can serve as a reactive layer to immobilize an initiator, followed by the polymer grafting. The current approach can be employed as a versatile tool to achieve antibacterial properties, showing up to 99.4% reduction in bacterial adhesion, compared to that of the controls.

Human kerationcytes (HaCaT) cannot form focal adhesions on many highly hydrated polyzwitterionic surface coatings. Gene expression analysis indicates that HaCaT cells cultivated in the presence of poly(zwitterions) on which they cannot adhere have up-regulated inflammatory and apoptosis-related cell signaling pathways.

This paper investigates the influence of bioinspired micropatterned polymers on the settlement of marine microfouling and macrofouling. Sharklet-based micropatterns are replicated on polymers with various chemical and mechanical properties. The micropatterned substrates are immersed at two contrasting sites and in two different seasons. The main question is what parameters significantly affect the density and diversity of microfouling and macrofouling.