In this article, a facile approach to fabricate abiofunctional polypropylene nonwoven fabric membrane (PP NWF)with a switchable surface from antibacterial property to hemocompatibilityis presented. In the first step, a cationic carboxybetaine estermonomer, [(2-(methacryboxy) ethyl)]-N,N-dimethylamino-ethylammoniumbromide, methyl ester (CABA-1-ester) was synthesized.Subsequently, this monomer was introduced on the PP NWF surfacevia plasma pretreatment and a UV-induced graft polymerizationtechnique. Finally, a switchable surface from antibacterial property tohemocompatibility was easily realized by hydrolysis of poly(CABA-1-ester) moieties on the PP NWF surface under mild conditions.Surface hydrolysis behaviors under different pH conditions were investigated. These PP NWFs grafted with poly(CABA-1-ester)segments can cause significant suppression of S. aureus proliferation; after hydrolysis, these surfaces covered by poly[(2-(methacryloxy) ethyl)] carboxybetaine (poly(CABA)) chains exhibited obvious reduction in protein adsorption and plateletadhesion, and remarkably enhanced antithrombotic properties. This strategy demonstrated that a switchable PP NWF surfacefrom antibacterial property to hemocompatibility was easily developed by plasma pretreatment and UV-induced surface graftpolymerization and that this surface may become an attractive platform for a range of biomedical applications.
