Patterned Liquid-Infused Nanocoating Integrating a Sensitive Bacterial Sensing Ability to an Antibacterial Surface

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Slippery liquid-infused surfaces exhibit potent antibacterial properties.
• A significant limitation is their inability to detect microorganisms in aqueous samples.
• Integrating bacterial sensing with antibacterial surfaces is crucial but challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a multifunctional nanocoating combining bacterial repellence and sensing capabilities.
• To create a slippery patterned liquid-infused nanocoating on glass substrates.
• To enable sensitive detection of bacteria within the nanocoating structure.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a nanocoating using dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DMSNs) and larger dendritic porous silica nanoparticles (DPSNs).
• Incorporation of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), Raman reporter (4-mercaptobenzoic acid, 4-MBA), and aptamers onto DPSNs.
• Utilizing dip-coating, hydrophobic treatment, plasma etching, and liquid infusion for nanocoating construction.
• Employing surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for bacterial detection.

Main Results:

• The nanocoating demonstrated complete bacterial repellence on hydrophobic areas.
• Sensitive SERS detection of *Staphylococcus aureus* was achieved with a low detection limit (2.6 CFU/mL) in a small sample volume (1 μL).
• The DPSNs-Au-MBA-aptamer construct served as an effective Raman tag for bacterial identification.

Conclusions:

• The developed patterned liquid-infused nanocoating successfully integrates microbial repellence and sensing.
• This research presents a novel strategy for creating multifunctional surfaces for advanced microbial monitoring and control.
• The nanocoating shows promise for applications requiring both bacterial deterrence and sensitive detection.