Suppression of Biofouling on a Permeable Membrane for Dissolved Oxygen Sensing Using a Lubricant-Infused Coating

Abstract

Specific ranges of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations must be maintained in a waterbody for it to be hospitable for aquatic animals. DO sensor designs can employ selectively permeable membranes to isolate DO from untargeted compounds or organisms in waterbodies. Hence, the DO concentration can be monitored and the health of the water can be evaluated over time. However, the presence of bacteria in natural waterbodies can lead to the formation of biofilms that can block pores and prevent analyte from permeating the membrane, resulting in inaccurate readings. In this work, we demonstrate the implementation of a fluorosilane-based omniphobic lubricant-infused (OLI) coating on a selectively permeable membrane and investigate the rate of biofilm formation for a commercially available DO sensor. Coated and unmodified membranes were incubated in an environment undergoing accelerated bacterial growth, and the change in sensitivity was evaluated after 40, 100, 250, and 500 h. Our findings show that the OLI membranes attenuate biofouling by 70% and maintain sensitivity after 3 weeks of incubation, further demonstrating that oxygen transfer through the OLI coating is achievable. Meanwhile, unmodified membranes exhibit significant biofouling that results in a 3.35 higher rate of decay in oxygen measurement sensitivity and an over 70% decrease in static contact angle. These results show that the OLI coating can be applied on commercially available membranes to prevent biofouling. Therefore, OLI coatings are a suitable candidate to suppress biofilm formation in the widespread use of selectively permeable membranes for environmental, medical, and fluid separation applications.

A Review of Smart Lubricant-Infused Surfaces for Droplet Manipulation

“…These unique features potentially address the drawback of the superhydrophobic surface (e.g., depletion of air cushion). Benefiting from these excellent properties, LISs are used to exploit different functions in a wide range of fields, such as anti-biofouling [2][3][4][5][6], corrosion resistance [7][8][9][10][11][12], ice/frost delaying [13][14][15][16][17], self-cleaning [18][19][20][21][22], water harvesting [23][24][25], drag reduction [26][27][28][29][30][31], heat transfer [32][33][34]. Some recent works give an overview of LIS's overall development ranging from fundamental fabrication to various applications [35,36].…”

Hierarchical Structures, with Submillimeter Patterns, Micrometer Wrinkles, and Nanoscale Decorations, Suppress Biofouling and Enable Rapid Droplet Digitization

“…Recently, omniphobic coatings have been introduced on the surface of biomedical devices for reducing biofouling and the resultant blood coagulation, [ 20–29 ] while minimizing the administration of anticoagulants. [ 30 ] Liquid‐infused surfaces are one of the recent classes of omniphobic surfaces which have shown to significantly suppress biofouling and thrombosis with their performances surpassing previous anticoagulant based strategies in terms of longevity under blood flow and anti‐biofouling ability.…”

“…[ 30 ] Liquid‐infused surfaces are one of the recent classes of omniphobic surfaces which have shown to significantly suppress biofouling and thrombosis with their performances surpassing previous anticoagulant based strategies in terms of longevity under blood flow and anti‐biofouling ability. [ 20–25,27–30 ] However, in order for these surfaces to sustain their omniphobic and repellent properties, the lubricant layer must be stable on the surfaces, making them difficult to use in open‐air applications where the lubricant is susceptible to evaporation. [ 31 ] Another class of omniphobic surfaces is those with structural modifications wherein the micro‐ and nano‐scale topography of the surface provides omniphobic properties.…”

Antimicrobial Nanomaterials and Coatings: Current Mechanisms and Future Perspectives to Control the Spread of Viruses Including SARS-CoV-2

“…Schematic of biofouling on membrane with and without the lubricant-infused layer, with SEM of biofouling on untreated and treated membrane, after 21 days of incubation in the insets. Reprinted from ref ( 125 ). Copyright 2019 American Chemical Society.…”