Superhydrophobic surfaces for the reduction of bacterial adhesion

Abstract

As an important research area, the development of antibacterial materials has attracted extensive interest from researchers. Typical antibacterial materials involve the use of biocides and antibacterial metallic ions, such as Ag + , as well as killing by highly reactive species, such as hydroxyl radical, hydrogen peroxide and superoxide produced by the photocatalysis of TiO 2 . However, the intensive usage of biocides has a growing concern in the increase of bacterial resistance and cross-resistance to antibiotics and antibacterial Ag + depending on its dissolution property may have potential implications on human health and environment. Currently TiO 2 is mainly activated with UVA light and research on visible light photocatalysis is still under development. Recently, a new scheme using superhydrophobicity has raised more attention and interests especially for its ability in reducing bacterial adhesion. This paper provides a detailed review on the basics, recent developments, existing challenges and future perspectives of superhydrophobic surfaces especially in reducing bacterial adhesion.

Tunable conjugated polymers for bacterial differentiation

“…Many factors affect bacterial adhesion to a surface, including the properties of the surface material, environmental conditions and also the bacterial cell surface properties, and this makes it a complex and multifactorial phenomenon [40,[54][55][56][57][58]. Bacterial cell attachment to a surface is generally described by two stages; initial attachment, which is rapid and reversible and involves physicochemical interactions between bacterial cell surfaces and the material surfaces, and non-reversible attachment, which involves specific and non-specific interactions between proteins on the bacterial surface structures and binding molecules on the material surface, as well as physicochemical interactions [59,60].…”

Cicada Wing Surface Topography: An Investigation into the Bactericidal Properties of Nanostructural Features

“…[22][23][24][25][26] This is a result of reduced protein adsorption required for initial cell adhesion. 27 Hydrophobic surfaces (with a 90 o >WCA<150 o ) are not generally antibiofouling and the level of bacterial adhesion to these surfaces depends greatly on other factors e.g. pH of the environment, hydrophobicity of the bacteria etc.…”

“…The nanostructuring of surfaces with an ordered array of features increases the hydrophobicity as described by the Cassie and Wenzel models. 27 Depending on the material used and the scale of the nanostructure, these surfaces can display superhydrophobic or hydrophobic properties. …”

Superhydrophobic and Highly Oleophobic Nylon Surface

“…除此之 外, 近年来超疏水表面在生物领域的应用也逐渐引起了 人们的兴趣 [13] . 以抗细菌粘附性为例, 目前常用的抗菌 物质如 Ag ＋ , 大规模使用可能会增加细菌的抗性并对人 及环境有一定程度的污染 [14] . 另一方面, 细菌在表面形 成生物膜时都先通过范德华力、静电作用力或酸碱反应 等粘附在表面, 再分泌基质并生长分化 [15] .…”