Abstract
Inspired by the long-term effectiveness of living antifouling materials, we have developed a method for the self-replenishment of synthetic biofouling-release surfaces. These surfaces are created by either molding or directly embedding 3D vascular systems into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and filling them with a silicone oil to generate a nontoxic oil-infused material. When replenished with silicone oil from an outside source, these materials are capable of self-lubrication and continuous renewal of the interfacial fouling-release layer. Under accelerated lubricant loss conditions, fully infused vascularized samples retained significantly more lubricant than equivalent nonvascularized controls. Tests of lubricant-infused PDMS in static cultures of the infectious bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli as well as the green microalgae Botryococcus braunii, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Dunaliella salina, and Nannochloropsis oculata showed a significant reduction in biofilm adhesion compared to PDMS and glass controls containing no lubricant. Further experiments on vascularized versus nonvascularized samples that had been subjected to accelerated lubricant evaporation conditions for up to 48 h showed significantly less biofilm adherence on the vascularized surfaces. These results demonstrate the ability of an embedded lubricant-filled vascular network to improve the longevity of fouling-release surfaces.
Highlights
colony-forming unit (CFU) counts for these samples yielded values of 4.8×105 cells/cm[2], three orders of magnitude lower than the control samples. These results demonstrated that lubricant-infused PDMS can be significantly more effective as fouling-release surfaces against biofilms of S. aureus compared to even low-adhesion surfaces of PDMS or glass
B. braunii was selected for these studies as it forms strong biofilms under static conditions and is well known for its capacity to produce a very high lipid content within its cell walls, an important factor in the cost-effective production of biofuels, while C. reinhardtii, D. salina, and N. oculata were selected for their industrial relevance.[38]
Previous work on slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) exposed to cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli, as well as S. aureus has shown that these organisms do not form adherent biofilms,[18] while recent tests with marine organisms have shown a decrease in settlement of Ulva linza zoospores and Balanus amphitrite larvae.[21]
Summary
The lubricant-infused PDMS samples, in contrast, showed no visible adherent biofilms upon being removed from the culture medium, resulting in surface coverage values of 0.1% (±0.1%) after crystal violet staining. B. braunii was selected for these studies as it forms strong biofilms under static conditions and is well known for its capacity to produce a very high lipid content within its cell walls, an important factor in the cost-effective production of biofuels, while C. reinhardtii, D. salina, and N. oculata were selected for their industrial relevance.[38] Glass samples half-covered with lubricant-infused PDMS were placed in shallow petri dishes containing either static (C. reinhardtii and D. salina) or shaking (N. oculata) algae cultures.
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