Antibacterial fluorinated silica colloid superhydrophobic surfaces

A superhydrophobic xerogel coating synthesized from a mixture of nanostructured fluorinated silica colloids, fluoroalkoxysilane, and a backbone silane is reported. The resulting fluorinated surface was characterized using contact angle goniometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Quantitative bacterial adhesion studies performed using a parallel plate flow cell demonstrated that the adhesion of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was reduced by 2.08 ± 0.25 and 1.76 ± 0.12 log over controls, respectively. This simple superhydrophobic coating synthesis may be applied to any surface, regardless of geometry, and does not require harsh synthesis or processing conditions, making it an ideal candidate as a biopassivation strategy.