Designing novel anti-biofouling coatings on titanium based on the ferroelectric-induced strategy
Ruoyun Wang, Tong Zhou, Jie Liu, Xinwen Zhang, Jianfei Yang, Wenbin Hu, Lei Liu
Abstract
Biofouling originated from ubiquitous bacteria has affected quantities of practical applications, such as biomedical devices, biosensors and marine industry, thus the design for anti-biofouling coatings has aroused great concern in the scientific community. However, current anti-biofouling strategies based on either the release of biocidal compounds or surface textured/chemical design (superhydrophobic grille) cannot satisfy the practical demands when encountering real-world complex conditions. Here we, inspired by the ferroelectric/piezoelectric effect, report a refreshing strategy to prepare anti-biofouling coatings. The BaTiO3 particles are embedded in TiO2 coatings by micro-arc oxidation of pure titanium, and the obtained coatings have marvellous antifouling performance against Gram-negative E. coli. The contact potential differences (CPD) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are successfully induced by the spontaneous polarization of micro/nano BaTiO3, and then the BaTiO3-incorporated TiO2 coatings (BaTiO3/TiO2) can effectively resist fouling organisms. Our experiments demonstrate that the ferroelectric effect of coatings plays a crucial role in the antimicrobial mechanism. It is therefore believed that our design strategy could also guide the development of other anti-biofouling materials and bring a new era to the marine antifouling.