Though the past two decades have seen a dramatic increase in research toward self-cleaning repellent surfaces, multiple challenges exist in the creation of biorepellent surfaces for everyday use. Environmental concerns persist with many of the chemicals utilized in this field and the need for scalable, low-cost alternatives remains. Spread of pathogens including bacteria and viruses in healthcare and public settings also presents a need for stable surfaces. In the work presented here, we report on the current status of antimicrobial nanomaterials and coatings toward virus repellency, followed by an investigation into the application of polysiloxane nanostructures in creation of flexible hierarchical surfaces. Using n-propyltrichlorosilane (n-PTCS) coated on activated polyolefin (PO) we were able to demonstrate superhydrophobicity, reporting water contact angles above 153° paired with <1° sliding angles on hierarchical surfaces. A transfer assay, that closely mimics contact with high-touch surfaces, using Escherichia coli K-12 transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP) reported a 1.6-log (97.5%) reduction in fluorescence on surfaces compared to planar PO controls, paired with a 1.2-log (93%) reduction in CFU/mL in comparison to control groups. Additionally, surfaces demonstrated a contact angle of 140.8° with citrated whole blood. Droplets of blood incubated on our surfaces for 15 min showed a 93% reduction in visible staining, while submersion in citrated whole blood for 20 minutes revealed an 87% reduction in blood adhered to the surfaces. The applications for these biorepellent surfaces have widespread potential, including the demonstrated need for prevention of surface contamination to minimize spread of hospital acquired infections (HAIs) within the healthcare system. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / The goal of creating a surface capable of repelling biological samples continues to present challenges due to surface stability, scalability, and cost of manufacturing techniques. Beyond this, many of the existing solutions use fluorine-based chemicals that present a risk to the environment due to the difficulty in breaking down these molecules. This thesis aims to understand the current state of repellent surfaces used for biological applications, including prevention of surface contamination by bacteria and viruses, then investigates the use of more environmentally friendly methods to produce repellent surfaces. Using a silicone-based coating combined with heat induced shrinking of shape memory polymers (SMPs), we have created a flexible surface with multiscale roughness that demonstrates repellency to bacteria and whole blood.

Development of repellent surfaces which can supress bacteria adhesion, blood contamination and thrombosis, and non-specific adhesion on diagnostic devices has been a topic of intense research as these characteristics are in high demand. This thesis focused on design and development of omniphobic surfaces based on hierarchical structures and their application for preventing pathogenic contamination and biosensing. First, a flexible hierarchical heat-shrinkable wrap featuring micro and nanostructures, was developed with straightforward scalable methods which can be applied to existing surfaces. These surfaces reduced biofilm formation of World Health Organization-designated priority pathogens as well as minimized risk of spreading contamination from intermediate surfaces. This is due to the broad liquid repellency and the presence of reduced anchor points for bacterial adhesion on the hierarchical surfaces. Next, the developed surfaces were applied to minimize blood contamination and clot formation as well as facile integration of hydrophilic patterns. This led to droplet compartmentalization and was utilized for detection of Interleukin 6 in a rapid dip-based assay. Furthermore, in a review article the need for anti-viral or virus repellent surfaces and future perspectives were discussed as the global COVID-19 pandemic surged and attracted interest toward innovative technologies for suppressing the spread of pathogens. To address the pressing issue of non-specific adhesion in diagnostics devices, an omniphobic liquid infused electrochemical biosensor was developed. This was achieved by electroplating gold nanostructures on fluorosilanized gold electrodes. These electrodes demonstrated rapid and specific detection of Escherichia coli within an hour in complex biological liquids (blood, urine, etc.) without dilutions or amplification steps from clinical patient samples which are major bottle necks when rapid detection systems are sought for at the point of care. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Repellent surfaces have a variety of applications in healthcare, for coating medical devices (e.g. indwelling implants, stethoscopes, and other external devices.), coating hospital surfaces for blood and pathogen repellency, and for developing anti-fouling diagnostic devices. Furthermore, they can be applied in the food sector for limiting contaminations, and in public areas on high-touch surfaces to eliminate the spread of infection. Therefore, there is a need for repellent surface which can be easily applied to surfaces with various form factors while having an easy fabrication method. Featuring hierarchical structures on a heat-shrinkable material, a repellent wrap was designed to be integrated on existing surfaces and repel pathogens and suppress the spread of infection as an intermediate surface. Similar concept was used for designing blood repellent surfaces which were patterned with hydrophilic regions for a rapid dip-based biosensing platform. Finally, surface textures on conductive materials with liquid infused repellent coatings were investigated for electrochemical biosensing in complex biological liquids.