SLIPPERY SURFACES PREVENT BIOFOULING

Abstract

Biofouling is a critical problem in health sector, marine industries and is a cause of severe economic burden. Hospital acquired infections, pandemics and fouling of marine equipment are some of the drawbacks of biofouling that are being experienced worldwide. Among various strategies to address this problem, direct killing of biofilms is the mostly commonly applied approach and sanitization techniques are utilized to disinfect different surfaces to prevent the transfer of microbes from one surface to another. Physical and chemical methods of surface modifications to prepare slippery surfaces have recently been evaluated to reduce the adsorption of microbes. This study describes the development of vitamin B5 analogous polymers coated smooth surfaces. The hydrophilic surfaces prepared are tested for the attachment of bacteria and proteins. Our results indicate that polymer coated smooth surfaces showed minimal attachment of bacteria and protein post-modification.