Bacterial anti-adhesion surface design: Surface patterning, roughness and wettability: A review

Bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation impose a heavy burden on the medical system. Bacterial adhesion on implant materials would induce inflammation and result in implant failure. The adhesion of bacteria on food-processing and handling equipment may lead to food-borne illness. To reduce and even prevent bacterial adhesion, some bacterial anti-adhesion surface designs have been developed. However, the effect of some surface properties (including surface patterning, roughness and wettability) on bacterial adhesion has not been systematically summarized. In this review, a comprehensive overview of bacterial anti-adhesion surface design is presented. Modifying the surface pattern and roughness could reduce the contact area between bacteria and surfaces to weaken the initial adhesion force. Fabricating superhydrophobic surface or modifying hydrophilic functional groups could hinder the bacterial adhesion. The analysis and discussion about influencing factors of bacterial anti-adhesion surfaces provide basic guidelines on antibacterial surface design for future researches.