Harnessing wetting transitions to program dual-mode antibacterial textiles

Anti-biofouling and antimicrobial treatments often face intrinsic trade-offs between short-term surface repellence and long-term bactericidal activity. Herein, a time-sequenced dual-defense textile platform is presented based on Cu/Zn bimetallic imidazolate frameworks grown on cotton fabrics via a composition-controlled coordinating strategy and vacuum-assisted pore activation. In particular, this work introduces a materials-design concept in which interfacial wetting dynamics are deliberately exploited to program sequential functionality. The pore-activated metal-organic framework surface initially stabilizes trapped air pockets, imparting superhydrophobicity and suppressing bacterial adhesion. Upon prolonged exposure to bacterial suspension, pore wetting occurs, triggering interactions between bacteria and reactive oxygen species of ˙O₂ ^- and ˙OH, generated through Cu⁺/Cu²⁺ redox cycling. This transition induces intracellular oxidative stress in Escherichia coli, as confirmed by assays. Systematic tuning of the Cu/Zn ratio grants control over the balance between anti-adhesive persistence and bactericidal potency, where Cu-rich frameworks achieve a bactericidal efficiency of 99.2% after 120 min, suitable for high-risk clinical environments, while Zn-rich compositions extend the anti-adhesive state for daily-wear applications. This study advances a dynamic, wetting-regulated materials principle that allows adaptive antibacterial performance, offering a broadly applicable strategy for hygiene textiles, with immediate bacterial repulsion and sustained oxidative inactivation.