1750 Biomacromolecules 2005, 6, 1750-1758

Synthesis and Characterization of Polymeric Soybean

Oil-g-Methyl Methacrylate (and n-Butyl Methacrylate) Graft
Copolymers: Biocompatibility and Bacterial Adhesion
Birten Çakmaklı,† Baki Hazer,*,† İshak Özel Tekin,‡ and Füsun Beǧendik Cömert§
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Departments of Immunology and Medical
Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, 67100 Zonguldak, Turkey
Received January 27, 2005

Peroxidation, epoxidation, and/or perepoxidation reactions of soybean oil under air at room temperature
resulted in cross-linked polymeric soybean oil peroxides on the surface along with the waxy soluble part,
sPSB, with a molecular weight of 4690, containing up to 2.3 wt % peroxide. This soluble polymeric oil
peroxide, sPSB, initiated the free radical polymerization of either methyl methacrylate (MMA) or n-butyl
methacrylate (nBMA) to give PSB-g-PMMA and PSB-g-PnBMA graft copolymers. The polymers obtained
were characterized by 1H NMR, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and gel
permeation chromatography techniques. Polymeric oil as a plasticizer lowered the glass transition of the
PSB-g-PMMA graft copolymers. PSB-g-PMMA and PSB-g-PnBMA graft copolymer film samples were
also used in cell culture studies. Fibroblast and macrophage cells were strongly adhered and spread on the
copolymer film surfaces, which is important in tissue engineering. Bacterial adhesion on PSB-g-PMMA
graft copolymer was also studied. Both Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli adhered on the
graft copolymer better than on homo-PMMA. Furthermore, the latter adhered much better than the former.

Introduction Soybean oil is a triglyceride with two dominant fatty acid

Much attention has been paid to studying and developing
environmentally biodegradable plastics to retard or eradicate
plastic pollution.1,2 Current interest in cheap biodegradable
polymeric materials has encouraged the development of such
materials from readily available, renewable, inexpensive
natural sources such as starch, polysaccharides, and edible
oils.3 Today natural oils and fats are considered to be the
most important class of renewable resources for the produc-
tion of biodegradable polymers in two ways. The first is the
production of poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate)s (PHAs) as an
energy reserve material by some microorganisms by using
plant oils and fish oils.4 The second is direct polymerization
of the oils, for example, a copolymerization with divinyl-
benzene and styrene, leading to thermoset copolymers,5 or
polymerization of vinyl,6 maleic anhydride,7 glycidyl ether,8
and norbornyl9 derivatives of the oil. Our efforts have
recently focused on grafting reactions of monomers on
naturally occurring peroxidized polymeric drying oils such
as linseed oil.10 Oxidation of linseed oil in the air involves
hydrogen abstraction from a methylene group between two
double bonds in a polyunsaturated fatty acid chain.11-13 This
leads to peroxidation, perepoxidation, hydroperoxidation,
epoxidation, and then cross-linking via radical recombination.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Phone: 011 90 372
322 17 03. Fax: 011 90 372 323 86 93. E-mail: bhazer@karaelmas.edu.tr,
bhazer2@yahoo.com.
† Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
‡ Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine.
§ Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine.
10.1021/bm050063f CCC: $30.25
Published on Web 03/25/2005
residues, linoleic acid and oleic acid, and an average number
of double bonds per molecule of 4.6. The average MW of
soybean oil is around 874, and the oil contains linoleic acid
(51%), oleic acid (25%), palmitic acid (11%), linolenic acid
(9%), and stearic acid (4%) residues.14,15 Scheme 1 indicates
the structure of soybean oil.
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is used widely in
medical practices, especially in intraocular lenses and bone
cement. Biodegradable plastics are also of interest for medical
applications because of their biocompatibility. The cell
adhesion and spreading on a surface are the most indicative
processes to assess the biocompatibility of a synthetic
polymer.16 Because of their strong ability to adhere on
different polymeric surfaces, L-929 fibroblast cells are the
main cell type widely used in biocompatibility studies.
Macrophages are important components of the mammalian
immune system as professional antigen-presenting cells and
nonspecific killers of a wide variety of pathogens. In vivo
use of synthetic and biologically derived polymers in
biomedical applications such as tissue engineering and drug
delivery introduces an interaction with the host immune
system that can determine the efficacy of the particular
application.17
In many biomedical applications the adhesion of bacteria
to biomaterials causes undesirable inflammation or infection.
Bacterial adherence to polymer surfaces varied significantly
depending on the polymer type as well as the strain of the
bacteria. In recent years various groups have therefore
focused on the development of bioinert, biocompatible
coatings which can be used to minimize protein adsorption
© 2005 American Chemical Society
Synthesis of PSB-g-PMMA and PSB-g-PnBMA Copolymers Biomacromolecules, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2005 1751

Scheme 1. Chemical Structure of Soybean Oil

Table 1. Results and Conditions of the Polymerization and the Peroxidization of Soybean Oil
soybean polym total soluble peroxygen concn,
oil mass, time, yield, part concn, molecular weight (GPC) wt %, in
run g days g wt % Mw MWD soluble polymer
60-1 5.01 30 5.01 96 2.0
60-2 5.00 40 5.05 90 1887 1.26 2.1
60-3 5.25 50 5.25 93 2.3
60-4 5.21 60 5.21 86 4690 1.52 2.3
60-5 5.14 70 5.07 72 2.3
60-6 5.05 80 5.05 69 1.5
60-7 5.10 150 5.10 62 9428 2.38 1.3

and bacterial adhesion while maintaining the mechanical and
physical properties of the underlying substrate.18
In this work, as a cheap and abundant renewable source,
soybean oil was converted to polymeric peroxide under
atmospheric conditions at room temperature. Then it was
used to initiate the graft copolymerization of MMA or n-butyl
methacrylate (nBMA) to obtain a new biodegradable mate-
rial. These newly synthesized graft copolymers are tested
for their biocompatibilities and effects on bacterial adhe-
sion.19
Experimental Section
Materials. Soybean oil was locally supplied and used as
received. MMA and nBMA were supplied from Aldrich and
freed from inhibitor by vacuum distillation over CaH2. All
other chemicals were reagent grade and used as received.
Formation of Polymeric Soybean Oil under Laboratory
Conditions. For the formation of polymeric soybean oil, 5.0
g of soybean oil spread out in a Petri dish (L ) 16 cm) was
exposed to sunlight in the air at room temperature. After a
given time, a gel polymer film associated with a waxy and
viscous liquid was formed. Chloroform extraction of the
crude polymeric oil for 24 h at room temperature allowed
separation of the soluble part of the polymeric soybean oil
(sPSB) from the gel (gPSB). The results and conditions of
polymer formation from soybean oil are listed in Table 1.
Peroxygen contents of the sPSB samples varied from 1.3 to
1752 Biomacromolecules, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2005 Çakmaklı et al.

Table 2. Results and Conditions for the Polymerization of MMA and nBMA Initiated by PSB (Sample 60-4 in Table 1) at 80 °C
polymer yield [PSB]a in
PSB MMA nBMA polym total, soluble, molecular weight copolymer,
run mass, g mass, g mass, g time, h g wt % Mw × 104 MWD mol %
56-1 1.015 0.562 4.5 0.80
56-3 1.000 1.030 5 0.84 67 31 1.6
56-4 1.000 2.012 5 1.47 76 35 1.6 4
56-2 1.031 3.005 4.5 2.93 53 30 1.8 6
56-5 1.501 3.005 5 3.37 80 8
56-6 3.003 3.005 5 4.72 79 40 1.2 12
61-1 0.926 2.42 6.5 2.57 43 29 1.7 4
62-1 0.51 2.42 8 1.15 20 52 1.6
62-2 1.03 2.42 8 1.54 48 44 1.5
62-3 2.03 2.42 8 2.52 78 41 1.7 4
62-4 3.01 2.42 8 3.31 36
a Calculated from their 1H NMR spectra (by comparison with peaks at 3.7 ppm (PMMA) and 4.2 ppm (PSB)).

Figure 1. 1H NMR spectrum of the PSB sample (no. 60-4 in Table

1). (The characteristic peaks of the precurser soybean oil have been
marked on the spectrum.)
2.3 wt %. The Mw of sPSB sample 60-4 was 4690 with
MWD ) 1.52.
Peroxygen Analysis. Peroxide analysis of soluble PSB
fractions was carried out by refluxing a mixture of 2-propanol
(50 mL)/acetic acid (10 mL)/saturated aqueous solution of
KI (1 mL) and 0.1 g of the polymeric sample for 10 min
and titrating the released iodine against thiosulfate solution
according to the literature.20 Peroxide contents of the soluble
polymeric soybean oil fractions are listed in Table 1.
Graft Copolymerization. For graft copolymerization of
PSB peroxides with a vinyl monomer, a given amount of
PSB and methyl methacrylate or n-butyl methacrylate were
charged separately into a Pyrex tube. Argon was introduced
through a needle into the tube for about 3 min to expel the
air. The tightly capped tube was then put into a water bath
at 80 °C. After the required time, the contents of the tube
were coagulated in methanol. The graft copolymer samples
were dried overnight under vacuum at 30 °C. The charac-
teristic data for MMA and nBMA copolymerization initiated
by the PSB peroxides are listed in Table 2.
Fractional Precipitation of the Graft Copolymers. In a
typical fractional precipitation procedure,21a-c 0.5 g of
Figure 2. 1H NMR spectrum of the PSB-g-PMMA block copolymer
sample (56-6).
polymer sample was dissolved in 10 mL of CHCl3. Methanol
was used as a nonsolvent and kept in a 50 mL buret.
Afterward methanol was added to the polymer solution with
continuous stirring, until the polymer began to precipitate.
At this point, the γ value was calculated by taking the volume
ratio of the nonsolvent (methanol) consumed to the solvent
(chloroform, 10 mL).
Polymer Characterization. 1H NMR spectra were re-
corded in CDCl3 at 17 °C with a tetramethylsilane internal
standard using a 400 MHz NMR AC 400 L.
The molecular weight of the polymeric samples was
determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) with
a Waters model 6000A solvent delivery system with a model
401 refractive index detector and a mode 730 data module
and with two Ultrastyragel linear columns in series. Chlo-
roform was used in the elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min-1.
A calibration curve was generated with polystyrene standards.
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermograms
were obtained on a Netzsch DSC 204 with a CC 200 liquid
nitrogen cooling system to determine the glass transition
temperatures (Tg), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of
Synthesis of PSB-g-PMMA and PSB-g-PnBMA Copolymers Biomacromolecules, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2005 1753

Figure 3. 1H NMR spectrum of the PSB-g-PnBMA block copolymer

sample (62-3).

Table 3. Thermal Analysis Results of the Graft Copolymers and

the Related Homopolymers
DSC TGA
Tg1, Tg2, Tg3, Tm, Td1, Td2,
polymer °C °C °C °C °C °C
PSB-g-PMMA
56-2 -37 -17 94 142 370
56-5 -35 -13 83 1
56-6 -32 -11 88 3
PSB-g-PnBMA
62-2 25 375
62-3 24 136 365
PSB (60-4) -44 -18 2 420
PnBMA 19 320
PMMA 110 370

the polymers obtained was performed on a PL TGA 1500

instrument to determine thermal degradation. For DSC
analysis, samples were heated from 20 to 200 °C at a rate
of 10 °C/min (first heating) and held at the final temperature
for 1 min to eliminate the thermal history applied to the
samples. After being cooled to -100 °C, they were then
reheated to 200 °C at a rate of 10 °C/min (second heating).
Cell Culture and Cell Adhesion Studies. The murine
fibroblast cell line (L-929) and macrophage cell line (RAW
264.7) were purchased from the American Type Culture
Collection (ATCC; Rockville, MD). The cell culture stock
solution (RPMI-1640), which contains 10% (v/v) heat-
inactivated fetal bovine serum with 100 units/mL penicillin
and 100 µg/mL streptomycin, was supplied from Gibco.
In a typical cell culture study, a Petri dish (L ) 60 mm)
was coated with the graft copolymer film (thickness ∼1 mm)
by means of chloroform solution casting. The polymer-film-
coated Petri dish was sterilized by using ethylene oxide. A
6 mL sample of cell culture containing 0.8 × 105/mL L-929
(or 0.5 × 105/mL RAW 264.7) was poured into the polymer-
coated Petri dish and incubated at 37 °C in humidified air
containing 5% (v/v) CO2. For a given time, the cells on the
polymer surface were observed with an inverted microscope
(Nikon Eclipse TE 300, Tokyo, Japan) and photographed
with a Minolta Dimage 7i camera (magnification 200×). The
cell photographs taken with this camera associated with the
above microscope are given in Figures 7 and 8.
Figure 4. GPC chromatograms of the fractionally precipitated PSB-
g-PMMA and PSB-g-PBMA graft copolymers.
Bacterial Adherence. One Staphylococcus epidermidis
strain and one Escherichia coli strain obtained from two
different patients who had infections related to intravascular
catheters were used for the adherence tests. The bacteria were
kept at -80 °C in skim milk. A 10 µL sample of the
bacterium culture was inoculated onto a blood agar plate
(Oxoid, U.K.; tryptone (14.0 g/L), peptone (4.5 g/L), yeast
extract (4.5 g/L), sodium chloride (5.0 g/L), agar (12.5 g/L),
and sheep blood (7 wt %)) and kept overnight at 37 °C.
Bacterial suspensions of 108 colony-forming units (CFUs)/
mL were prepared for each bacterium for the adherence tests
according to the method cited in ref 22.
Method: A polymer disk (thickness ∼1 mm, L ) 6 mm)
was placed under sterile conditions in 1 mL of bacterial
suspension and incubated at 37 °C for 30 min. The polymer
disk was removed and rinsed with 2 mL of sterile phosphate-
buffered solution (PBS) three times for 60 s to eliminate
nonadhering bacteria. The polymer disk was transferred into
1 mL of PBS in a glass tube and agitated for 3 min via vortex
at 2400 rpm/min. A 10 µL sample of PBS containing
dislodged bacteria was seeded onto blood agar plates and
1754 Biomacromolecules, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2005 Çakmaklı et al.

spread to facilitate subsequent colony counting. Ten-fold

dilutions were made to calculate an accurate count of bacteria
adhered to the polymer disk surfaces. Ten-fold-diluted
colonies were counted by the naked eye after 24 h of
incubation at 37 °C. The bacterial density per polymer type
((CFUs/mL)/mm2) was calculated by dividing the colony
number mean by the total surface area (mm2) of the polymer
disk.

Results and Discussion

Polymeric Soybean Oil Containing Peroxide Groups.

Polymeric soybean oil containing peroxide/hydroperoxide
groups was obtained in the air at room temperature for eight
weeks. PSB samples contained cross-linked films associated
with the waxy soluble part (sPSB), which was isolated with
the chloroform extraction of the cross-linked film. The
viscous soluble part formed under the cross-linked film on
the surface can also be separated easily. As expected, the
cross-linked soybean oil amount increases to 38 wt % at 150
days of polymerization time. The results and conditions of
the peroxidized polymeric soybean oil are listed in Table 1.
The molecular weight of sample 60-4 was 4690 with MWD
) 1.52, and peroxygen contents were found to be between
1.3 and 2.3 wt %. Figure 1 shows the 1H NMR spectrum of
Figure 5. DSC traces of PSB-g-PMMA (runs 56-2, 56-6, and 56-5)
the PSB sample (no. 64 in Table 1). The characteristic peaks
and PSB-g-PnBMA (runs 62-2 and 62-3).
of the precurser soybean oil have been marked on the
spectrum which confirms the PSB segments in the copolymer
structure.
Graft Copolymerization. Because of their peroxide
groups, sPSB samples initiated the copolymerization of
MMA or nBMA at 80 °C to obtain PMMA-g-PSB and
PnBMA-g-PSB in high yield. Copolymerization conditions
and copolymer analysis results are listed in Table 2. The
higher concentration of PSB in monomer solution yields a
higher amount of cross-linked graft copolymer except for
runs 56-6 and 62-4. Interestingly, the highest concentration
of PSB feeding (ca. 3.00 g of PSB) yields a lower amount
of cross-linked copolymer. Cross-linked and soluble graft
copolymer fractions were isolated by means of chloroform
extraction.
Soluble fractions of the graft copolymers were fractionally
precipitated to determine the γ values of the graft copolymers
Figure 6. Thermogravimetric traces of PSB, PnBMA, and PSB-g-
and their related homopolymers. Homo-PMMA and homo- PMMA (run 56-2) and PSB-g-PnBMA (run 62-3) graft copolymers.
PnBMA were precipitated in the γ ranges 3.0-3.8 and 2.8-
4.1, respectively, while PSB-g-PMMA and PSB-g-PnBMA peaks as indicated in Figure 2 (δ, ppm): -COOCH3 of
copolymer fractions were precipitated in the γ ranges 2.5- MMA at 3.7 and -CH2- of SB at 2.8, 2.4, 1.9, 1.4, and
3.8 and 2.5-3.9, respectively. Because γ values of the graft 0.9; the peaks at 4.1-4.4 ppm originate from the protons in
copolymers and related homopolymers were almost super- the methylene groups of the triglyceride. The vinylic protons
imposed, fractional precipitation was useful only to determine are detected at 5.3 ppm. For this sample, PSB inclusion was
the γ values of oil-grafted copolymers instead of to isolate found to be 12 mol % by taking the ratio of the signals at
pure graft copolymers from the related homopolymers. As 3.7 and 4.2 ppm. PSB inclusion of the graft copolymers is
we discuss below, unimodal GPC curves can be attributed proportionally increased with the PSB macroinitiator in the
to the pure graft copolymers freed from the related ho- feed (compare runs 56-2, -5, and -6 in Table 2).
mopolymers. Homo-sPSB, a pale yellow viscous liquid, was 1H NMR spectra of the soluble copolymer samples of PSB-

already eliminated by staying in the solution during the
precipitation procedure.
1H NMR spectra of the soluble copolymer samples of PSB-
g-PMMA (run 56-6, γ ) 2.0-4.0) contained characteristic
g-PnBMA (run 62-3, γ ) 2.0-4.0) contained characteristic
peaks as indicated in Figure 3 (δ, ppm): -COOCH3 of
nBMA at 4.0 (shifted to higher field than that of PMMA)
and -CH2- of SB at 2.8, 2.4, 1.9, 1.4, and 0.9; the peaks at
Synthesis of PSB-g-PMMA and PSB-g-PnBMA Copolymers
Figure 7. L-929 cell growth and adhesion test on the polymer samples: (a) 1 h, (b) 16 h.
4.1-4.4 ppm originate from the protons in the methylene
groups of the triglyceride (which partially overlapped with
the peak of PnBMA at 4.0 ppm). The vinylic protons are
detected at 5.3 ppm.
GPC was used to determine the molecular weights and
polydispersity of the copolymers. Fractionated samples of
PSB-g-PMMA and PSB-g-PnBMA gave unimodal traces
which can be attributed to the graft copolymer structure
without homopolymer impurities (see Figure 4).
Thermal analysis of graft copolymers was performed by
DSC and TGA. Table 3 lists the glass transition (Tg), melting
transition (Tm), and decomposition (Td) temperatures. Figure
5 indicates the thermogravimetric traces of sPSB and soluble
PMMA-g-PSB graft copolymers.
A considerable plastization effect of polymeric oil in the
PMMA graft copolymers has been observed by lowering the
glass transition to 83 °C compared with 110 °C for homo-
PMMA. There is no big difference in the case of PnBMA
Biomacromolecules, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2005 1755
graft copolymers. Tg values of the graft copolymers were
around of that of homo-PnBMA. Figure 5 also indicates DSC
traces of the polymers. Tg values of PSB were shifted to
higher values in PMMA graft copolymers, while they were
not observed in PnBMA copolymers because the aliphatic
side chain of PnBMA may help the compatibilization of
polymeric oil. Figure 6 indicates the thermogravimetric traces
of sPSB, PnBMA, and soluble PnBMA-g-PSB graft copoly-
mers. The first temperature region at around 130-280 °C
(stage I) is related to evaporation and decomposition of the
unreacted free oil in the bulk polymer. It is interesting that
the TGA traces of the graft copolymers were in the middle
of the related homopolymers. When we compare the Td
values of homo-PMMA and homo-PnBMA with the Td
values of the graft copolymer of soybean oil, the latter are
shifted to higher values (see Table 3).
Cell Culture and Adhesion. We have chosen L-929 cells
as the fibroblast and RAW 264.7 cells as the macrophage
1756 Biomacromolecules, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2005 Çakmaklı et al.

Figure 8. RAW 264.7 growth and adhesion test on the polymer samples: (a) 1 h, (b) 16 h.

cell line. Figures 7 and 8 show L-929 fibroblast and RAW PMMA and PSB-g-PnBMA film samples, PMMA- and
264.7 macrophage cell adhesion and proliferation on homo- PnBMA-coated Petri dishes, and a standard PS Petri dish
copolymers and graft copolymers, respectively. PSB-g- set for the fibroblast cell culture and 62-2- and 62-3-coded
Synthesis of PSB-g-PMMA and PSB-g-PnBMA Copolymers
Table 4. Adherence of Bacteria to PMMA and PSB-g-PMMA
Determined by Direct Counting of Viable Adherent Bacteria
Released by Vortex Agitation ((CFUs/mL)/mm2)a
polymer S. epidermidis E. coli
PMMA 46428 42857
PSB-g-PMMA
56-2 39285 1250
56-5 28214 132
56-6 31321 892
a The bacterial density ((CFUs/mL)/mm2) (CFUs ) colony-forming units)
was calculated by dividing the colony number mean by the total surface
area of the polymer disk.
copolymers, PMMA- and PnBMA-coated Petri dishes, and
a standard PS Petri dish set for the macrophage cell culture
were used. There were abundant spherical cells at the
beginning in all dishes (Figures 7a and 8a). In the first hour,
L-929 cells in the copolymer 56-5 dish were adhered
significantly better than the other cells, and they turned into
their authentic shapes, except RAW cells on PnBMA. The
cell adhesion ability of RAW macrophages in PnBMA graft
copolymer (62-3) was found to be greater than that of the
others (Figure 8). These results were similar to those of the
standard PS dish.
After 16 h of incubation, the amounts of adhered L-929
(Figure 7b) and RAW (Figure 8b) cells were significantly
increased for all polymeric surfaces. At this time, the amounts
of adhered L-929 cells in 56-5, 62-2, and 62-3 were found
to be greater than those of the others. The RAW cells did
not have their own authentic shape on the PnBMA surface
for 16 h. It is important that PnBMA-g-PSB is suitable for
macrophage growing and adhering while homo-PnBMA is
not suitable. However, the macrophage cell adhesion ability
in 62-3 was found to be greater than that of the others. It
was also observed that the macrophage cell adhesion ability
in 62-2 was found to be higher than that of PnBMA. These
findings were similar to those of standard PS Petri dish usage
and supported the biocompatibility of the graft copolymers
obtained.
Bacterial Adhesion. Bacterial adhesion on any surface is
necessary for development of infection. Despite significant
advances, bacterial adhesion to polymer surfaces is still a
significant problem. There are many studies involved in
bacterial adhesion on different polymer surfaces.23-25
In this study, the adherence of bacteria to copolymer
PMMAs was compared with that of PMMA. While the
adherences of S. epidermidis and E. coli to PMMA disks
were similar, a significant decrease in the adherence of E.
coli to the PSB-PMMA graft was observed. The greatest
decrease (1/324) in the adherence of E. coli was observed
with 56-5 (Table 4). The adherence was 34 and 48 times
lower in 56-2 and 56-6, respectively. Although the decrease
in the adherence of S. epidermidis was far less than that of
E. coli, there was a 1.1-, 1.6-, and 1.4-fold reduction in
adherence to PSB-g-PMMA graft copolymers 56-2, 56-5,
and 56-6, respectively. More significant reduction of adhe-
sion was observed with E. coli, especially to polymer 56-5.
Similary, Tunney et al. reported adhesion of the hydrophilic
E. coli isolates to the copolymers increased with decreasing
copolymer hydrophobicity. A relationship was not apparent
between copolymer hydrophobicity and adherence of the
Biomacromolecules, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2005 1757
hydrophobic Enterococcus faecalis isolate in their study.26
The development of surfaces that reduce adherence of
bacteria may have several applications, for instance on
medical devices used in the urogenital tract, where catheter-
associated infections are rampant and E. coli constitutes the
most important causative organism for infection. According
to our results PSB-g-PMMA is a promising novel copolymer
of PMMA for use in medical devices, with the advantage of
decreasing bacterial adherence.
Conclusion
Naturally peroxidized polymeric soybean oil as a macro-
initiator initiates the free radical polymerization of MMA
and nBMA, without any additional catalyst, which may be
important for medical applications of the graft copolymers.
Soybean oil inclusion acts as a plasticizer and can make
PMMA and PnBMA partially biodegradable and biocom-
patible. Fibroblast and macrophage cells strongly adhered
on the graft copolymers, especially PSB-g-PnBMA. Bacterial
adherence to PSB-g-PMMA was found to be lower than that
to PMMA.
Acknowledgment. This work was financially supported
by the Zonguldak Karaelmas University Research Fund.
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