Incorporation of carbon nanotubes in polydimethylsiloxane to control Escherichia coli adhesion

Abstract

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is widely used as a coating material and in the fabrication of medical implants for the urinary tract and also in biofilm reactors. When this polymer is used in biomedical devices, bacterial adhesion to the surface must be avoided to prevent implant‐related infections, whereas in biofilm reactors, adhesion has to be promoted. In this work, incorporation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on PDMS composites was tested to control Escherichia coli adhesion. Pristine and functionalized CNTs were used and the adhesion assays were performed in the hydrodynamic conditions prevailing in the urinary tract. Surfaces were chemically and morphologically characterized by contact angle measurements, scanning electron microscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron microscopy. Incorporation of small amounts (0.1%) of pristine CNTs decreased bacterial adhesion by 20%, whereas functionalized CNTs increased bacterial adhesion also by 20%. This demonstrates that bacterial adhesion can be modulated by incorporating different types of CNTs in the polymer. It is likely that incorporation of higher amounts of CNTs in polymer composites can affect bacterial adhesion by more than 40%. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:E1697–E1704, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers

Carbon Nanotube/Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Composite Materials to Reduce Bacterial Adhesion

“…Comparing these results with those obtained for the surface energy, it can be noted that for p-CNT/PDMS, f-CNT/PDMS, p-BM/PDMS and f-BM/PMDS surfaces there seemed to be a correlation with the hydrophobic character, where a lower hydrophobicity seemed to favor cell adhesion. These results are in agreement with our previous work, whose findings revealed that even at lower loading values (0.1 wt %), functionalized CNTs could increase cell adhesion by 40% when compared to the PDMS surface with p-CNTs [67]. However, in the p-THF/PDMS and f-THF/PDMS surfaces, an opposite relationship was observed.…”

“…E. coli JM109(DE3) from Promega (Madison, WI, USA) was selected for this study because it has been used in previous works from our group for the evaluation of initial adhesion in antifouling surfaces [67] and because it has was shown to have similar biofilm formation behavior to different clinical isolates, including E. coli CECT434 [78]. A starter cell culture was obtained using the same procedure as described in Moreira, et al [79].…”

Antimicrobial and anti-adhesive properties of carbon nanotube-based surfaces for medical applications: a systematic review

“…(2016) showed that silicone surfaces immobilized with vertically aligned MWCNTs were able to reduce bacterial biofilm formation by up to 60%, recommending the application of these contact mechanics-based surfaces for the construction of medical devices. In 2019, Vagos et al. (2019) demonstrated that the incorporation of a small concentration of p-MWCNTs (0.1%) in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix was able to reduce the E. coli adhesion by 20% under hydrodynamic conditions that simulated the flow in the urinary tract, representing a step forward in the design of novel surfaces for urinary tract devices.…”

Efficacy of A Poly(MeOEGMA) Brush on the Prevention of Escherichia coli Biofilm Formation and Susceptibility

“…Glass was selected due to its transparency, which facilitates microscopy. PDMS is one of the most widely used polymers in the fabrication of medical implants for the urinary tract [58]. PDMS was prepared as previously described [14] and the poly(MeOEGMA) brushes were prepared according to Lopez-Mila et al [22].…”