Antimicrobial Nanotextured Surfaces

Surfaces in health care settings, transport, and public spaces play a critical role in bacterial transmission. Accordingly, there is growing interest in innovative strategies aimed at developing effective and sustainable antibacterial surfaces. Our team has been working on two such strategies that rely on nanotexturing of a material to achieve antimicrobial activity. The first approach that we will present relies on impregnation of nanoholes with an antimicrobial solution with the aim of slow release for long-term antimicrobial performance. We show how such surfaces can help mitigate the spread of bacteria by contact transfer. The second approach requires the growth of nanopillars on a surface that can inflict mechanical damage to attached cells. We describe how an external force is a key driver in the underlying mechanism of mechano-bactericidal activity. We also discuss the role of material surface hydrophobicity and nanopillar arrangement on the observed mechano-bactericidal activity. Our findings provide useful insights into the real life conditions under which such nanotextured surfaces may be of practical use.