Anti-fouling chemistry of chiral monolayers: Enhancing biofilm resistance on racemic surface

This work reports the resistance to protein adsorption and bacterial biofilm formation by chiral monolayers of polyol-terminated alkanethiols surrounding micrometersized patterns of methyl-terminated alkanethiols on gold films. We discover that patterned surfaces surrounded by chiral polyol monolayers can distinguish different stages of biofilm formation. After inoculation on the surfaces, bacteria first reversibly attached on the chiral polyol monolayers. Over time, the bacteria detached from the polyol surfaces, and attached on the hydrophobic micropatterns to form biofilms. Interestingly, while both enantiomers of gulitol- and mannonamide-terminated monolayer resisted adsorption of proteins (bovine serum albumin, lysozyme, and fibrinogen) and confined biofilms formed on the micropatterns, the monolayers formed by the racemic mixture of either pair of enantiomers exhibited stronger antifouling chemistry against both protein adsorption and biofilm formation than monolayers formed by one enantiomer alone. These results reveal the different chemistries that separate the different stages of biofilm formation, and the stereochemical influence on resisting biofoulings at a molecular-level.