Remarkable bactericidal traits of a metal-ceramic composite coating elated by hierarchically structured surface

Jiang Xu; Zhijian Pan; Shaung Peng; Yanjie Zhao; Shuyun Jiang; Yu Jie Chen; Zong-Han Xie; Paul Munroe

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101942

Remarkable bactericidal traits of a metal-ceramic composite coating elated by hierarchically structured surface

iScience. 2020 Dec 13;24(1):101942. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101942. eCollection 2021 Jan 22.

Authors

Jiang Xu¹, Zhijian Pan¹, Shaung Peng¹, Yanjie Zhao¹, Shuyun Jiang², Yu Jie Chen³, Zong-Han Xie³, Paul Munroe⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 29 Yudao Street, Nanjing 210016, PR China.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Southeast University, 2 Si Pai Lou, Nanjing 210096, PR China.
³ School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
⁴ School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

Abstract

A ceramic-based coating with a hierarchical surface structure was synthesized via solid-state reaction enabled by a double cathode glow discharge technique. This innovative coating comprises two distinct layers, specifically an outer layer with a well-aligned micro-pillar array and a dense inner layer. Both are composed of a face-centered cubic Cu(Co,Ni,Fe) solid solution phase together with a spinel-type Fe(Al,Cr)₂O₄ oxide. This coating exhibits superhydrophobicity and, yet, a very strong adhesion to water, i.e., the so-called "rose petal effect". This coating also exhibits highly efficient antibacterial ability against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria under both dark and visible light conditions. The excellent antibacterial property originates from the synergistic effects through the release of Cu ions coupled with photothermal activity upon light activation.

Keywords: Biomedical Materials; Coatings; Microbiofilms.