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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Rui Han, Professor Waldemar Vollmer, Professor Nicholas JakubovicsORCiD, Dr Jinju Chen
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
This study explores the antibiofilm potential of slippery covalently-attached liquid-like surfaces (SCALS), revealing their remarkable ability to inhibit biofilm formation over extended periods, regardless of their hydrophobic or hydrophilic nature. We engineered permanently bound liquid-like solid surfaces with exceptional slipperiness, defined by ultra-low contact angle hysteresis, and assessed their effectiveness against two nosocomial pathogens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (FH8). These surfaces achieved a 3–5 order of magnitude reduction in biofilm formation compared to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) under both static and dynamic culture conditions over 14 days. Impressively, both the hydrophobic and hydrophilic slippery liquid-like solid surfaces significantly outperformed widely used antimicrobial coatings containing silver particles in the long term in both static and dynamic cultures. These slippery surfaces also outperformed emerging antibiofilm surfaces like liquid-infused surfaces in extended period of dynamic cultures. We have demonstrated that ultra-low liquid-solid friction, characterized as ultra-low contact angle hysteresis, is an important predictor of the long-term antibiofilm performance of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic slippery covalently-attached liquid-like surfaces, particularly in dynamic cultures. This work elucidates the interfacial mechanisms and scientific principles underpinning the design of advanced antibiofilm surfaces capable of maintaining superior performance over the long term.
Author(s): Zhu Y, McHale G, Barrio Zhang H, Han R, Wells G, Liu H, Ledesma-Aguilar R, Vollmer W, Jakubovics N, Chen J
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: ACS Applied Bio Materials
Year: 2025
Volume: 8
Issue: 7
Pages: 5660-5669
Print publication date: 21/07/2025
Online publication date: 09/06/2025
Acceptance date: 20/05/2025
Date deposited: 21/05/2025
ISSN (electronic): 2576-6422
Publisher: American Chemical Society
URL: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsabm.5c00294
DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.5c00294
Data Access Statement: The authors declare that the main data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its Supporting Information. Further information and requests for resources and reagents should be directed to and will be fulfilled by the corresponding author. All data generated in this study and its Supporting Information are provided as a Supplementary Source Data file in the Supporting Information.
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