SBIR Phase I:Commercialization and Scale Up of Ultra Low Fouling and Functionalizable Surface Coatings Based on Zwitterionic Polycarboxybetaine

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to enable the batch production of ultra-low fouling and functionalizable polycarboxybetaine (pCB) surface coatings. The approach is to develop a new route for the cost-effective and large-scale production of the zwitterionic carboxybetaine (CB) monomers. A novel approach to prepare high quality pCB surface coatings will also be investigated. The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to provide zwitterionic materials/surface coatings technology for applications in medical devices and biosensors, drug delivery and consumer products. Zwitterionic pCB is not only highly resistant to nonspecific protein adsorption, but also has abundant functional groups for the convenient and effective immobilization of biomolecules via conventional chemistry. This makes pCB an ideal choice for many applications from diagnostics to drug delivery. However, one of the major challenges in manufacturing of pCB coatings is that CB monomers are not commercially available. This project will address this challenge by developing a process for large-scale production of CB monomers and pCB coatings.