Superhydrophobic surface with hierarchical architecture and bimetallic composition for enhanced antibacterial activity.

Developing robust antibacterial materials is of importance for a wide range of applications such as in biomedical engineering, environment, and water treatment. Herein we report the development of a novel superhydrophobic surface featured with hierarchical architecture and bimetallic composition that exhibits enhanced antibacterial activity. The surface is created using a facile galvanic replacement reaction followed by a simple thermal oxidation process. Interestingly, we show that the surface's superhydrophobic property naturally allows for a minimal bacterial adhesion in the dry environment, and also can be deactivated in the wet solution to enable the release of biocidal agents. In particular, we demonstrate that the higher solubility nature of the thermal oxides created in the thermal oxidation process, together with the synergistic cooperation of bimetallic composition and hierarchical architecture, allows for the release of metal ions in a sustained and accelerated manner, leading to enhanced antibacterial performance in the wet condition as well. We envision that the ease of fabrication, the versatile functionalities, and the robustness of our surface will make it appealing for broad applications.