Anti-biofouling carbon soot coatings
Researchers have described the anti-biofouling potential of extremely water-repellent carbon soot coatings.
The paramount objective of the new study was to evaluate the potential of two mechanically durable water-repellent soot coatings towards the inhibition of bacterial proliferation in “real-life” outdoor conditions. The researchers demonstrate that upon one-week immersion in a seawater swamp, both specimens lose non-wettability due to dissolution of the trapped gas layer into the water basin, but yet manage to retard the biofilm development, compared to uncoated iron surfaces, and halt the settlement of some Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains.
Practical applicability
The noticed selectiveness in the anti-fouling behavior of tested samples is presumably attributed to differences in the cell envelopes, the extent of elicit oxidative stress and soot-mediated formation of toxic ammonia molecules via hydrogen bonding. These unknown so far anti-bacterial mechanisms of the soot expand the horizons of practical applicability beyond the conventional framework and emphasize on its possible future use as a therapeutic agent.
The study has been published in Progress in Organic Coatings, Volume 183, October 2023.
