Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.
State-Province Joint Engineering Laboratory of Marine Bioproducts and Technology, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022 Feb 16;14(6):7617-7625. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c22205. Epub 2022 Feb 1.
Surface topography has been demonstrated as an effective nonchemical strategy for controlling the fouling resistance of a surface, but its impact on optical transparency remains a barrier to the application of this strategy in optical materials. To reconcile the conflicting effects of surface topography on optical transparency and fouling resistance, here we study the optical properties and antifouling performance of nanowrinkled surfaces inspired by the corneal surface of zebrafish (). Experimental and numerical analyses demonstrate that a good compromise between optical transparency and antifouling efficacy can be achieved by wavy nanowrinkles with a characteristic wavelength of 800 nm and an amplitude of 100 nm. In particular, the optimal wrinkled surface under study can reduce biofouling by up to 96% in a single-species ( sp.) bacterial settlement assay in the laboratory and 89% in a field test while keeping the total transmittance above 0.98 and haze below 0.04 underwater. Moreover, our nanowrinkled surface also exhibits excellent resistance against contamination by inorganic particles. This work provides a nonchemical strategy for achieving the coexistence of optical transparency and fouling resistance on one single material, which implies significant application potential in various optical devices and systems, such as antibacterial contact lenses and self-cleaning solar panels.
表面形貌已被证明是控制表面污染阻力的有效非化学策略，但它对光学透明度的影响仍然是该策略在光学材料中应用的障碍。为了协调表面形貌对光学透明度和抗污染阻力的冲突影响，我们在这里研究了受斑马鱼角膜启发的纳米波纹表面的光学特性和抗污染性能。实验和数值分析表明，通过具有 800nm 特征波长和 100nm 振幅的波浪形纳米皱纹可以在光学透明度和抗污效果之间取得良好的折衷。特别是，在实验室的单种（sp.）细菌沉降试验和现场试验中，研究中最佳的波纹表面可以将生物污染减少 96%，同时保持水下总透过率高于 0.98，浊度低于 0.04。此外，我们的纳米皱纹表面还表现出对无机颗粒污染的优异抵抗力。这项工作为在单一材料上实现光学透明度和抗污染阻力的共存提供了一种非化学策略，这意味着在各种光学设备和系统中具有重要的应用潜力，例如抗菌隐形眼镜和自清洁太阳能电池板。
