Substrate-independent and widely applicable deposition of antibacterial coatings

Antibacterial coatings are regarded as a necessary tool to prevent implant-related infections. Substrate-independent and widely applicable coating techniques are gaining significant interest to synthesize different types of antibacterial films, which can be relevant from a fundamental and application-oriented perspective. Plasma polymer-and polydopamine-based antibacterial coatings represent the most widely studied and versatile approaches among these coating techniques. Both single-and dual-functional antibacterial coatings can be fabricated with these approaches and a variety of dual-functional antibacterial coating strategies can still be explored in future work. These coatings can potentially be used for a wide range of different implants (material, shape, and size). However, for most implants, significantly more fundamental knowledge needs to be gained before these coatings can find real-life use.

Automated summary

Antibacterial coatings are essential for preventing implant-related infections. Plasma polymer and polydopamine-based coatings are the most widely studied and versatile approaches, capable of synthesizing different types of antibacterial films. However, more fundamental research is needed before these coatings can be widely used.