Herein, we report a new strategy for the design of antifouling surfaces by using hybrid hairy Janus particles. The amphiphilic Janus particles possess either a spherical or a plateletlike shape and have core-shell structures with an inorganic core and hydrophilic/hydrophobic polymeric shells. Subsequently, these bifunctional Janus particles enable the fabrication of surfaces with modularity in chemical composition and final surface topography, which possess antifouling properties. The antifouling and fouling-release capability of the composite Janus particle-based surfaces is investigated using the marine biofilm-forming bacteria Cobetia marina. The Janus particle-based coatings are robust and significantly reduce bacterial retention under both static and dynamic conditions independent of the particle geometry. The plateletlike (kaolinite-based) Janus particles represent a scalable system for the rational design of antifouling coatings as well as their large-scale production and application in the future.
Keywords: Cobetia marina; Janus particles; antifouling surfaces; hybrid Janus particles; marine biofouling.