Lipid Layers on Nanoscale Surface Topography: Stability and Effect on Protein Adsorption

Herein, we report the coating of a surface with a random nanoscale topography with a lipid film formed by an anchoring stearic acid (SA) monolayer and phospholipid (DPPC) layers. For this purpose, different procedures were used for phospholipid coating, including adsorption from solution, drop deposition, and spin-coating. Our results reveal that the morphology of the obtained lipid films is strongly influenced by the topography of the underlying substrate but also impacted by other factors, including the coating procedure and surface wettability (modulated by the presence of SA). These coated surfaces showed a remarkable antifouling behavior toward proteins, with different yields of repellency (Y_rp) depending on the amount/organization of DPPC on the nanostructured substrate. The interaction between the proteins and phospholipids involves a partial detachement of the film. The use of characterization techniques with different charcateristics (accuracy, selectivity, analysis depth) did not reveal any obvious vertical heterogenity of the probed interface, indicating that the lipid film acts as a nonfouling coating on the whole surface, including the outermost part (nanoprotrusions) and deeper regions (valleys).