Nanomaterials Based Superhydrophobic and Antimicrobial Coatings

Abstract

Now-a-days, it is obvious that nanomaterials can play significant role in every sphere of our modern lives. On this aspect, use of nanomaterials in developing advanced functional materials or towards enhancement in surface related physical properties including superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic properties is very important both in fundamental and applied research. In this regard, most of the researchers agreed that there is a close relationship between superhydrophobicity of material surface with its antimicrobial activity. This review briefly highlights the use of some inorganic/organic based nanomaterials such as Ag, Cu, ZnO, TiO 2 as inorganic materials and graphene, chitosan nanoparticles as organic materials in making superhydrophobic antimicrobial coatings. Based on reported literature, possible mechanisms of antimicrobial activity of the nanomaterials derived superhydrophobic coatings have been discussed. It is worthy to note that the coatings with the advancement in self-cleaning and anti-biofouling as well as superhydrophobic and antimicrobial properties are highly potential for enormous applications in biomedical fields including medical textiles, personal protective equipment (PPE), surgical appliances, biodevices and so on. In this review, the challenges and future prospect of the nanomaterials based superhydrophobic coatings have also been discussed briefly. This mini review may encourage researchers towards development of superhydrophobic and antimicrobial coatings on various substrates like plastics, glasses, cotton fabrics for making PPE to protect the dedicated medical / healthcare personnel from the currently pandemic COVID-19 disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

Micro‐/Nanohierarchical Structures Physically Engineered on Surfaces: Analysis and Perspective

“…Surface-modified micropattern-nanopattern-based hierarchical structures can be used in antifogging, [1,152,153] antifouling, [154][155][156] antimicrobial, [157,158] and selfcleaning [155,159,160] applications as well as for collecting spilled water-oil mixtures and oil leaked into the ocean (Figure 6g). [4] The surface did not exhibit a high contact angle against water, but was rather designed to be hydrophilic (water contact angle = 6°) and oleophobic (oil contact angle = 166°).…”

Superhydrophobic Nanocoatings as Intervention against Biofilm-Associated Bacterial Infections

“…Currently, three categories of nanomaterials are employed for the fabrication of superhydrophobic nanocoatings, namely, inorganic, organic, or inorganic–organic hybrid. These nanomaterials have gained increasing attention due to their unique and favourable features, such as biocompatibility, good processability, high flexibility, facile preparation, non-toxicity, and low cost [ 82 , 83 ]. There have been numerous studies performed with regard to the use of nanomaterials in the fabrication of superhydrophobic nanocoatings.…”

Recent Advances in Dual‐Function Superhydrophobic Antibacterial Surfaces

“…[23] Among them, artificial superhydrophobic surfaces with high water contact angles (>150°), such as those inspired by natural plants (one famous example is the lotus leaf that exhibits excellent repellency against dust and other contaminations) have been developed to prevent bacterial attachment, demonstrating great potential for a wide range of practical applications. [24][25][26][27] However, it is indicated that the bacteria-repelling property of superhydrophobic surfaces was typically short-lived and would be weakened or even lost after a prolonged (>24 h) immersion in the bacterial suspension, most likely due to the loss of the air layer. [28] Even worse, due to the absence of bactericidal activity, the majority of superhydrophobic surfaces with hierarchical structure and high roughness would promote bacterial adhesion and would be inevitably contaminated by biofilm when the bacteria-repelling function fails.…”