Cyclodextrin-Grafted Poly(vanillin) Antimicrobial Bio-Nanohoops via “Graft From” RAFT and Supramolecular Host–Guest Chemistry

Microbial infections have been recognized as one of the most serious threats to healthcare and agriculture production, and it is still a great challenge to explore antimicrobial biomaterials with supramolecular self-assembling systems. To address this challenge, novel bionanohoops were fabricated via “graft from” reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) and supramolecular host–guest chemistry. Admittedly, controllable grafting of vanillin-derived homopolymer (PVMA_x) from β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) to synthesize β-cyclodextrin-grafted poly(vanillin methacrylate) (β-CD-g-PVMA_x, x = 5, 35, 103) was calculated from ¹H NMR integral area, and 2D NOESY demonstrated that the primary structured linear homopolymer chains (β-CD-g-PVMA₅) were linked to each other by host–guest interactions. Additionally, GPC results illustrated that the secondary structured nanohoops ([β-CD-g-PVMA₅]_y, y = 38 or 364) were self-assembled in situ from β-CD-g-PVMA₅ through supramolecular host–guest chemistry. Compared with stacking nanorods, nanohoops not only exhibited excellent antibacterial and antifungal activities but also presented good biocompatibility and better paint adhesion. Overall, we provided a valuable strategy that constructs antimicrobial bionanohoops by combining “graft from” RAFT and supramolecular host–guest chemistry for addressing microbial infections.