An antifouling and antiviral superhydrophobic elastomer formed by 3D printing and a peptide-based coating

Elastomers are used in various applications, including medical devices, conveyor belts that move food items through production, and soft grippers that handle objects such as plants, vegetables, and fruits. The undesirable contamination of the surface of these elastomers by microorganisms, dust, and sand harms their performance and service life. Herein, we describe the fabrication of an antifouling and antiviral superhydrophobic elastomer by combining 3D printing and a peptide-based coating. Superhydrophobicity is accomplished by an array of printed micropillars with multi-scale roughness due to embedded hydrophobic nanoparticles fabricated by digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing. The non-fluorinated silica particles embedded in the 3D pillars impart suitable roughness and surface energy to the printed elastomer. The resulting elastomer is superhydrophobic with a water contact angle of ∼158° and a rolling angle of ∼7°. The printed elastomers were coated by a short peptide that self-assembles onto the coating to provide this elastomer with antifouling properties. This coating reduces the number of bacteria on the elastomer and provides it with antiviral activity. Importantly, the coating does not alter the superhydrophobic properties of the elastomer and is mechanically stable. Overall, our work provides a new method for fabricating superhydrophobic antifouling elastomers.