One-step self-assembly of biogenic Au NPs/PEG-based universal coatings for antifouling and photothermal killing of bacterial pathogens

Schematic representation of the antifouling and photothermal antibacterial applications of PDMS-TA-PEG-Au surface. [Display omitted] •A gold/polymer coating was developed in an one-pot process.•The gold/polymer coating can be deposited on surfaces in a substrate-independent manner.•The gold/polymer coating exhibits good antifouling and photo-induced antibacterial properties.•The gold/polymer coating shows good anti-infection property in vivo. Severe medical device-associated infections caused by pathogenic bacteria have become an immediate threat to global public health, mainly because of the development of multiple drug resistance (MDR). Relevant design of functionalized biomaterials are thus essential to remit or mitigate the medical device-associated infections. In the present work, we developed a strategy of combining antifouling and photothermal therapy (PTT) in a single platform for antibacterial applications. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface was modified with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and tannic acid-reduced gold nanoparticles (Au@TA NPs) for better photothermal and antifouling performance. PEG facilitates the rapid self-assembly of Au@TA NPs on the surface to form a stable Au@TA NPs/PEG (TA-PEG-Au) layer. The functionalized surface with antifouling and antibacterial properties arise from the inherent fouling resistance of PEG and photothermal conversion of Au NPs. The TA-PEG-Au coating exhibits remarkable antifouling performance to bacterial adhesion and excellent antibacterial property under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation both in vitro and in vivo. The antibacterial TA-PEG-Au coatings also show low cytotoxicity. The present work provides an efficient strategy for the design of high-performance antifouling and antibacterial materials to fight against medical device-associated infections.