Ionic liquid/PDMS coated nanostructured ZnO surfaces for superior antibacterial activity
Abstract
The development of nanostructured antibacterial surfaces has gained significant attention due to the urgent need to combat bacterial colonization and biofouling across food, healthcare, and marine sectors. Among functional metal oxides, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures are particularly promising owing to their rich morphology, favourable physicochemical attributes, and intrinsic bactericidal properties. Here, we utilize a green, eco-friendly Hot Water Treatment (HWT) method to fabricate dense ZnO nanorod arrays on zinc substrates. To overcome the practical limitations and challenges of conventional antibacterial coatings, such as poor operational stability, cytotoxicity, and the risk of antimicrobial resistance, we developed a durable hybrid coating composed of an imidazolium-based ionic liquid stabilized with polydimethylsiloxane. The resulting hybrid-coated nanostructured surfaces exhibit superior antibacterial efficacy against Escherichia coli through a combination of topography-induced mechanical strain and membrane disruption.
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BibTeX
@misc{rohilla2026ionic,
title = {{Ionic liquid/PDMS coated nanostructured ZnO surfaces for superior antibacterial activity}},
author = {Anushika Rohilla and Ajit Seth and Mayank Bharadwaj and Rumal Singh and Sajal K Ghosh},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.12966},
eprint = {2610.12966},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.12966},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Ionic liquid/PDMS coated nanostructured ZnO surfaces for superior antibacterial activity
AU - Anushika Rohilla
AU - Ajit Seth
AU - Mayank Bharadwaj
AU - Rumal Singh
AU - Sajal K Ghosh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.12966
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.12966
AB - The development of nanostructured antibacterial surfaces has gained significant attention due to the urgent need to combat bacterial colonization and biofouling across food, healthcare, and marine sectors. Among functional metal oxides, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures are particularly promising owing to their rich morphology, favourable physicochemical attributes, and intrinsic bactericidal properties. Here, we utilize a green, eco-friendly Hot Water Treatment (HWT) method to fabricate dense ZnO nanorod arrays on zinc substrates. To overcome the practical limitations and challenges of conventional antibacterial coatings, such as poor operational stability, cytotoxicity, and the risk of antimicrobial resistance, we developed a durable hybrid coating composed of an imidazolium-based ionic liquid stabilized with polydimethylsiloxane. The resulting hybrid-coated nanostructured surfaces exhibit superior antibacterial efficacy against Escherichia coli through a combination of topography-induced mechanical strain and membrane disruption.
ER -