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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jake McClementsORCiD, Professor Marloes PeetersORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
Invited paperJake McClements, Luciana C. Gomes, Joshua Spall, Fabien Saubade,Devine Akhidime, Marloes Peeters, Filipe J. Mergulhão and Kathryn A. Whitehead*Celebrating the centenary in polymerscience: drawing inspiration from nature todevelop anti-fouling coatings. Thedevelopment of biomimetic polymer surfacesand their effect on bacterial foulinghttps://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2021-0108Abstract:The development of self-cleaning biomimetic surfaces has the potential to be of great benefit tohuman health, in addition to reducing the economic burden on industries worldwide. Consequently, thisstudy developed a biomimetic wax surface using a moulding technique which emulated the topography ofthe self-cleaningGladiolus hybridus(Gladioli) leaf. A comparison of topographies was performed for un-modified wax surfaces (control), biomimetic wax surfaces, and Gladioli leaves using optical profilometryand scanning electron microscopy. The results demonstrated that the biomimetic wax surface and Gladiolileaf had extremely similar surface roughness parameters, but the water contact angle of the Gladioli leaf wassignificantly higher than the replicated biomimetic surface. The self-cleaning properties of the biomimeticand control surfaces were compared by measuring their propensity to repelEscherichia coliandListeriamonocytogenesattachment, adhesion, and retention in mono- and co-culture conditions. When the bacterialassays were carried out in monoculture, the biomimetic surfaces retained fewer bacteria than the controlsurfaces. However, when using co-cultures of the bacterial species, only following the retention assays werethe bacterial numbers reduced on the biomimetic surfaces. The results demonstrate that such surfaces maybe effective in reducing biofouling if used in the appropriate medical, marine, and industrial scenarios. Thisstudy provides valuable insight into the antifouling physical and chemical control mechanisms found inplants, which are particularly appealing for engineering purposes.
Author(s): McClements J, Gomes L, Spall J, Saubade F, Akhidime D, Peeters M, Mergulhao F, Whitehead K
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Pure and Applied Chemistry
Year: 2021
Print publication date: 09/08/2021
Online publication date: 01/07/2021
Acceptance date: 28/06/2021
Date deposited: 23/07/2021
ISSN (print): 0033-4545
ISSN (electronic): 1365-3075
Publisher: De Gruyter
URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2021-0108
DOI: 10.1515/pac-2021-0108
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