Abstract:
In recent years, the biomimetic superhydrophobic
coatings have received tremendous attention, owing to their
potential in fabricating self-cleaning surfaces, in environmental
applications. Consequently, extensive research has been devoted to
create a superhydrophobic surface using the oxidized derivatives of
CNTs and graphene. Thus, the design and development of a selfcleaning/superhydrophobic surface with good biocompatibility are
an effective approach to deal with the bacterial infections related to
biomedical devices used in hospitals. In this context, herein, we
have developed the material based on ionic liquid (IL)-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) for hydrophobic
coatings, which was fully characterized with various techniques
such as Fourier transform infrared, powder X-ray diffraction,
energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron
microscopy. We have evaluated the synthesized ILs for their antibacterial potential against the pathogenic bacterial strains such
as Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacterial strains.
Further, atomic force and scanning electron microscopic studies have been performed to investigate the morphological changes to
unravel the mechanism of action, whereas DNA binding study indicates the binding of IL-1d@MWCNT with DNA (Ka = 2.390 ×
104 M−1
). Furthermore, the developed material (IL-1d@MWCNT) is coated onto the surface of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and
evaluated for hydrophobicity through water contact angle measurements and possesses long-term antibacterial efficiency against
both under-investigating pathogenic strains. For the biocompatibility assay, the obtained coated PVC material has also been
evaluated for its cytotoxicity, and results reveal no toxicity against viable cells. These all results are taken together, indicating that by
coating with the developed material IL-1d@MWCNT, a robust self-sterilizing surface has achieved, which helps in maintaining a
bacteria-free surface.
