Targeting pathogenic biofilms: newly developed superhydrophobic coating favors host compatible microbial profile on titanium surface

Polymicrobial infections are one of the most common reasons for inflammation of surrounding tissues and failure of implanted biomaterials. Because microorganism adhesion is the first step for biofilm formation, physical-chemical modifications of biomaterials have been proposed to reduce initial microbial attachment. Thus, the use of superhydrophobic coatings has emerged because of its anti-biofilm properties. However, these coatings on titanium (Ti) surface have been developed mainly by dual-step syrface modification techniques and have not been tested using polymicrobial biofilms. Therefore, we developed a one-step superhydrophobic coating on Ti surface by using low pressure plasma technology to create a biocompatible coating that reduces polymicrobial biofilms adhesion and formation. The superhydrophobic coating on Ti was created by the glow discharge plasma using Ar, O2 and hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) gases, and after full physical, chemical and biological characterizations, we evaluated its propertie...