Substrate Selection in Antifouling and Antimicrobial Performances of Nanomaterial Coatings: A Comparison of PDMS, PMMA, and Glass

Wanqing Dai; Jing Sun; Yaru Gao; Xinyu Wu; Wang-Fat Fred Lee; Fung-Yee Nora Tam; Guozhu Mao; Yung-Kang Peng; Jian Lin Chen

doi:10.1021/acsanm.5c00895

Substrate Selection in Antifouling and Antimicrobial Performances of Nanomaterial Coatings: A Comparison of PDMS, PMMA, and Glass

Wanqing Dai
, Jing Sun
, Yaru Gao
, Xinyu Wu
, Wang-Fat Fred Lee
, Fung-Yee Nora Tam
, Guozhu Mao
, Yung-Kang Peng
, Jian Lin Chen^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The utilization of nanomaterials as coating materials constitutes an economical and prevalent approach to addressing the fouling issue on substrate surfaces. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and glass are widely used substrates susceptible to biofouling, compromising the performance and longevity of instruments, sensors, and devices. This study evaluated the antifouling and antimicrobial efficacy of commonly used nanomaterials (ZnO, CeO₂, Fe₂O₃, and graphene) when coated on these substrate materials. All four nanomaterial coatings demonstrated sustained antimicrobial activity on PDMS that significantly exceeded their performance on PMMA and glass. Notably, the graphene-coated surfaces exhibited comparable IC₅₀ values on both organic matrices and those observed in suspension-phase tests. These findings elucidate the critical role of substrate-nanomaterial interactions in determining the effectiveness of nanomaterial-based antifouling strategies. © 2025 American Chemical Society.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	9781–9791
Journal	ACS Applied Nano Materials
Volume	8
Issue number	19
Online published	5 May 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.5c00895
Publication status	Published - 16 May 2025

Funding

The work described in this paper was supported by a grant from Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (UGC/FDS16/P01/24) and partially by a grant from Hong Kong Metropolitan University Research Grant (PFDS/2023/14), a grant from the State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution (SKLMP) Seed Collaborative Research Fund (SKLMP/SCRF/0066), and a grant from Hong Kong Metropolitan University Research Grant (RD/2023/2.20).

Research Keywords

antimicrobial
coating
graphene
nanomaterials
PDMS
PMMA

RGC Funding Information

RGC-funded

Access Output

10.1021/acsanm.5c00895

Other Access Options

Check CityUHK Library

Permanent Link

Right click to copy link

Cite this

@article{cfb95486c92643e7b10265ed7e33d4a2,

title = "Substrate Selection in Antifouling and Antimicrobial Performances of Nanomaterial Coatings: A Comparison of PDMS, PMMA, and Glass",

abstract = "The utilization of nanomaterials as coating materials constitutes an economical and prevalent approach to addressing the fouling issue on substrate surfaces. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and glass are widely used substrates susceptible to biofouling, compromising the performance and longevity of instruments, sensors, and devices. This study evaluated the antifouling and antimicrobial efficacy of commonly used nanomaterials (ZnO, CeO2, Fe2O3, and graphene) when coated on these substrate materials. All four nanomaterial coatings demonstrated sustained antimicrobial activity on PDMS that significantly exceeded their performance on PMMA and glass. Notably, the graphene-coated surfaces exhibited comparable IC50 values on both organic matrices and those observed in suspension-phase tests. These findings elucidate the critical role of substrate-nanomaterial interactions in determining the effectiveness of nanomaterial-based antifouling strategies. {\textcopyright} 2025 American Chemical Society.",

keywords = "antimicrobial, coating, graphene, nanomaterials, PDMS, PMMA",

author = "Wanqing Dai and Jing Sun and Yaru Gao and Xinyu Wu and Lee, \{Wang-Fat Fred\} and Tam, \{Fung-Yee Nora\} and Guozhu Mao and Yung-Kang Peng and Chen, \{Jian Lin\}",

year = "2025",

month = may,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1021/acsanm.5c00895",

language = "English",

volume = "8",

pages = "9781–9791",

number = "19",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Substrate Selection in Antifouling and Antimicrobial Performances of Nanomaterial Coatings

T2 - A Comparison of PDMS, PMMA, and Glass

AU - Dai, Wanqing

AU - Sun, Jing

AU - Gao, Yaru

AU - Wu, Xinyu

AU - Lee, Wang-Fat Fred

AU - Tam, Fung-Yee Nora

AU - Mao, Guozhu

AU - Peng, Yung-Kang

AU - Chen, Jian Lin

PY - 2025/5/16

Y1 - 2025/5/16

N2 - The utilization of nanomaterials as coating materials constitutes an economical and prevalent approach to addressing the fouling issue on substrate surfaces. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and glass are widely used substrates susceptible to biofouling, compromising the performance and longevity of instruments, sensors, and devices. This study evaluated the antifouling and antimicrobial efficacy of commonly used nanomaterials (ZnO, CeO2, Fe2O3, and graphene) when coated on these substrate materials. All four nanomaterial coatings demonstrated sustained antimicrobial activity on PDMS that significantly exceeded their performance on PMMA and glass. Notably, the graphene-coated surfaces exhibited comparable IC50 values on both organic matrices and those observed in suspension-phase tests. These findings elucidate the critical role of substrate-nanomaterial interactions in determining the effectiveness of nanomaterial-based antifouling strategies. © 2025 American Chemical Society.

AB - The utilization of nanomaterials as coating materials constitutes an economical and prevalent approach to addressing the fouling issue on substrate surfaces. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and glass are widely used substrates susceptible to biofouling, compromising the performance and longevity of instruments, sensors, and devices. This study evaluated the antifouling and antimicrobial efficacy of commonly used nanomaterials (ZnO, CeO2, Fe2O3, and graphene) when coated on these substrate materials. All four nanomaterial coatings demonstrated sustained antimicrobial activity on PDMS that significantly exceeded their performance on PMMA and glass. Notably, the graphene-coated surfaces exhibited comparable IC50 values on both organic matrices and those observed in suspension-phase tests. These findings elucidate the critical role of substrate-nanomaterial interactions in determining the effectiveness of nanomaterial-based antifouling strategies. © 2025 American Chemical Society.

KW - antimicrobial

KW - coating

KW - graphene

KW - nanomaterials

KW - PDMS

KW - PMMA

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105004402895

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105004402895&origin=recordpage

U2 - 10.1021/acsanm.5c00895

DO - 10.1021/acsanm.5c00895

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 2574-0970

VL - 8

SP - 9781

EP - 9791

JO - ACS Applied Nano Materials

JF - ACS Applied Nano Materials

IS - 19

ER -

Substrate Selection in Antifouling and Antimicrobial Performances of Nanomaterial Coatings: A Comparison of PDMS, PMMA, and Glass

Abstract

Funding

Research Keywords

RGC Funding Information

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

Fingerprint

Cite this