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In this study, novel dendritic urethane acrylate polymers were developed for the fabrication of robust honeycomb-like surfaces after exposure to a UV-crosslinking process. Through iterative synthesis based on a highly selective intermediate of 4-isocyanate-4′-(3,3-dimethyl-2,4-dioxo-azetidine)-diphenylmethane, poly(urea/malonamide) dendrons bearing peripheral methyl methacrylate end groups with well-defined structures were realized. A coating solution was prepared by the combined use of 30–70 wt% UA dendron acting as dendritic diluents and dendritic UA copolymers acting as amphiphiles that can fabricate honeycomb-like surfaces via a breath figure self-assembly process using water droplets as templates. The resulting film can be cured under UV light to achieve a robust honeycomb-like structure with a hexagonal structure exhibiting solvent-resistant properties in ethanol. Consequently, this solvent-resistant porous array can act as a substrate for the detection of vanishingly low concentrations of analytes that are aqueous insoluble via surface-enhanced Raman scattering analysis. • Novel synthesis of dendritic urethane acrylate copolymers • Development of UV-curable polymer surface with honeycomb-like structure • Realization of robust polymer surfaces with solvent resistance properties • Detection of aqueous insoluble analytes via surface-enhanced Raman scattering analysis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new root canal sealer was developed based on urethane acrylates using polycarbonate polyol (PCPO), a macrodiol prepared in the consumption of carbon dioxide as feedstock. The superior mechanical properties and biostability nature of PCPO-based urethane acrylates were then co-crosslinked with a difunctional monomer of tripropylene glycol diarylate (TPGDA) as sealers for resin matrix. Moreover, nanoscale silicate platelets (NSPs) immobilized with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) were introduced to enhance the antibacterial effect for the sealers. The biocompatibility and the antibacterial effect were investigated by Alamar blue assay and LDH assay. In addition, the antibacterial efficiency was performed by using Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) as microbial response evaluation. These results demonstrate that the PCPO-based urethane acrylates with 50 ppm of both AgNP and ZnONP immobilized on silicate platelets, i.e., Ag/ZnO@NSP, exhibited great potential as an antibacterial composite for the sealer of root canal obturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]