ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomaterials
This article is part of the Research TopicInsights in Biomaterials 2025 - Novel Developments, Current Challenges, and Future PerspectivesView all 4 articles
Hierarchical Inverse Opal Hydrogel Coatings for Superhydrophobic, Antibacterial, and Drug-Responsive Catheter Interfaces
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- 2Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
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Abstract: Catheter-related infections and biofouling remain critical challenges in clinical practice due to limited surface functionalities and the rapid formation of bacterial biofilms. Here, we present a universal bottom-up strategy to engineer hierarchical inverse opal hydrogel coatings with superhydrophobicity, drug-responsiveness, and antibacterial functionality on medical catheters. By leveraging dopamine-mediated substrate activation, dual-layer colloidal assembly, and polymer infiltration, we construct a structurally colored porous architecture capable of oil infusion to achieve adaptive wettability and low-friction liquid mobility. The hierarchical coating enables stress-responsive wetting transitions, visual degradation monitoring via structural color, and tunable droplet adhesion through pore geometry modulation. In vitro evaluation demonstrates 98.9% antibacterial efficiency against E. coli and excellent hemocompatibility, cytocompatibility, and in vivo biosafety. This multifunctional interface integrates passive antifouling, controlled drug release, and real-time structural feedback, offering a robust platform for the next generation of infection-resistant and intelligent medical devices.
Keywords: Antibacterial surface engineering, Catheter biofouling, Drug-responsive release, Inverse opal hydrogel, Superhydrophobic coating
Received: 07 Nov 2025; Accepted: 19 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Hou, Fei, Fu, Cheng, Zhou, Deng and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yuegao Liu
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