Investigating the viability of sulfur polymers for the fabrication of photoactive, antimicrobial, water repellent coatings
Rebekah L. Upton, Romy A. Dop, Emma Sadler, Amy Lunt, Daniel R. Neill, Tom Hasell, Colin R. Crick
Abstract
) nanoparticles, to achieve highly water repellent composites that displayed both antimicrobial and photocatalytic properties, in the absence of carcinogenic and/or expensive materials. Here, we investigated the antibacterial performance of coatings against the Staphylococcus aureus bacterial strain, where coatings displayed great promise for use in antifouling applications, as they were found to limit surface adhesion by more than 99%, when compared to uncoated glass samples. Furthermore, UV dye degradation tests were performed, utilizing the commercially available dye resazurin, and it was shown that coatings had the potential to simultaneously exhibit surface hydrophobicity and photoactivity, demonstrating a great advancement in the field of superhydrophobic materials.