Ultra High-Throughput Combinatorial Synthesis of Antimicrobial Polymers by Oxidative Crosslinking of Polyamines with Different Phenolic Compounds

• Applicant: Dr.-Ing. Vania Tanda Widyaya
• Subject Area: Polymer Materials ; Coating and Surface Technology ; Synthesis and Properties of Functional Materials
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 501386634

The aim of this project is to develop diverse and large libraries of antimicrobial polymers based on 7 polyamines and 35 plant polyphenols, by conjugating the two materials through combinatorial oxidative crosslinking in an ultra high-throughput manner (~10000 combinations). A miniaturized two-dimensional droplet microarray (DMA), where >4500 syntheses (and the subsequent characterizations and biological screening) could be carried out simultaneously on a single glass slide, will be used to conduct the ultra high-throughput combinatorial synthesis. The relationships between the polymer structures and their respective physical properties and antimicrobial activity (against five Gram-negative and five Gram-positive bacteria) will be investigated using a machine learning method.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position