1. Tunability of liquid-infused silicone materials for biointerfaces
- Author
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Yevgen Kovalenko, Edythe Johnson, Cathy T. Zhang, Amanda Tajik, Jaakko V. I. Timonen, Huseini S. Patanwala, Haylea Ledoux, Yuhang Hu, Yang Lai, Irini Sotiri, Carine R. Nemr, Joanna Aizenberg, Jack Alvarenga, Caitlin Howell, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Harvard University, University of Maine, Department of Applied Physics, Aalto-yliopisto, and Aalto University
- Subjects
Materials science ,Chemical Phenomena ,Surface Properties ,Oil viscosity ,General Physics and Astronomy ,02 engineering and technology ,010402 general chemistry ,Elastomer ,01 natural sciences ,Bacterial Adhesion ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Overlayer ,Biomaterials ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Silicone ,Escherichia coli ,General Materials Science ,Dimethylpolysiloxanes ,Curing (chemistry) ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Polydimethylsiloxane ,ta114 ,General Chemistry ,Polymer ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,0104 chemical sciences ,chemistry ,Chemical engineering ,Wetting ,0210 nano-technology - Abstract
The ability to control the properties of bio-inspired liquid-infused surfaces is of interest in a wide range of applications. Liquid layers created using oil-infused polydimethylsiloxane elastomers offer a potentially simple way of accomplishing this goal through the adjustment of parameters such as curing agent ratio and oil viscosity. In this work, the effect of tuning these compositional parameters on the properties of the infused polymer are investigated, including infusion dynamics, stiffness, longevity in the face of continuous liquid overlayer removal, and resistance to bacterial adhesion. It is found that that curing agent concentration appears to have the greatest impact on the functionality of the system, with a lower base-to-curing agent ratio resulting in both increased longevity and improved resistance to adhesion by Escherichia coli. A demonstration of how these findings may be implemented to introduce patterned wettability to the surface of the infused polymers is presented by controlling the spatial arrangement of bacteria. These results demonstrate a new degree of control over immobilized liquid layers and will facilitate their use in future applications.
- Published
- 2018