Slippery liquid-infused porous polymeric surfaces based on natural oil with antimicrobial effect

Abstract

Many polymer materials have found a wide variety of applications in biomedical indus-tries due to their excellent mechanical properties. However, the infections associated with the bio-film formation represent serious problems resulting from the initial bacterial attachment on the polymeric surface. The development of novel slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPSs) repre-sents promising method for the biofilm formation prevention. These surfaces are characterized by specific microstructural roughness able to hold lubricants inside. The lubricants create a slippery layer for the repellence of various liquids, such as water and blood. In this study, effective antimi-crobial modifications of polyethylene (PE) and polyurethane (PU), as commonly used medical pol-ymers, were investigated. For this purpose, low-temperature plasma treatment was used initially for activation of the polymeric surface, thereby enhancing surface and adhesion properties. Subse-quently, preparation of porous microstructures was achieved by electrospinning technique using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in combination with polyamide (PA). Finally, natural black seed oil (BSO) infiltrated the produced fiber mats acting as a lubricating layer. The optimized fiber mats’ production was achieved using PDMS/PA mixture at ratio 1:1:20 (g/g/mL) using isopropyl alcohol as solvent. The surface properties of produced slippery surfaces were analyzed by various microscopic and optics techniques to obtain information about wettability, sliding behavior and surface morphology/topography. The modified PE and PU substrates demonstrated slippery behavior of an impinged water droplet at a small tilting angle. Moreover, the antimicrobial effects of the produced SLIPs using black seed oil were proven against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. au-reus) and Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli). © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.