Antifouling and antimicrobial properties of surface micelle structures fabricated by the self-assembly of block copolymers on solids

Surface topology is of great interest to develop bactericidal surfaces in place of traditional

chemical-based approaches that are often toxic to human beings and environments. Many

experimental and computational studies reported a concept of engineered topographies to

produce surfaces with controlled interactions with proteins and bacteria. Here we focus on

engineered nanosurfaces inspired by the naturally occurring ones found on the surface of insect

wings (i.e., hexagonal arrays of cylindrical nanopillars). We use the self-assembled micelle

structures of block copolymers on silicon substrates using spin-coating and dip-coating as a

rational model. We characterize the surface structures and physical properties using a suite of

experimental tools including water contact angle measurements, atomic force microscopy,

scanning electron microscopy, and grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering. The

antifouling properties of the micelle structures against model proteins (i.e., Bovine Serum

Albumin and fibrinogen) and bacteria (Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes) will be

discussed. We will also discuss the effects of the geometric parameters of the micelle structures

on the properties.