Durable dual-defense coatings: PEGMA-enabled antifouling and synergizing erythrosine-based photocatalytic sterilization for persistent bacterial eradication

A dual-defense erythrosine coating is developed via a simple method, combining PEGMA-antifouling with photocatalytic sterilization. • Covalent grafting enables stable ¹O₂ generation, achieving > 99.8% bacterial kill within 30 min and retaining > 99.7% after one month. • The optimized coating reduces bacterial adhesion by 97.8% ( Escherichia coli ), 85.6% (S. aureus), and 97.3% (P. aeruginosa). • The coating shows outstanding stability against chemical, mechanical, and thermal challenges for medical devices. Healthcare-associated infections arising from bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation on medical devices demand durable antibacterial surfaces. Conventional sterilization offers only transient protection, while existing active bactericidal or passive antifouling strategies each suffer from critical limitations—such as toxicity, resistance, or lack of killing ability. Herein, we develop a series of erythrosine-based coatings that integrate active photocatalytic sterilization with passive antifouling into a dual-defense surface via simple, scalable methods (spin-coating, spray-coating, or drop-coating). The optimal coating achieves bacterial adhesion reduction rates of 97.8% against Escherichia coli ( E. coli ), 85.6% against Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ), and 97.3% against Pseudomonas aeruginosa ( P. aeruginosa ). Under visible light, it exhibits >99.8% bactericidal efficacy within 30 min. Notably, even after one month of ambient storage, the coating retains >99.7% antibacterial efficiency, underscoring its excellent long-term stability and practical utility. This erythrosine-based dual-functional coating offers a robust and translational strategy for combating device-associated bacterial infections, holding significant promise for broad applications in public health and clinical settings. A durable dual-defense coating is constructed via simple spin-coating, integrating a PEGMA-based hydration barrier with erythrosine-photosensitized ROS generation. This amphiphilic design synergizes passive antifouling with active photocatalytic killing, achieving long-lasting and broad-spectrum bacterial eradication and providing a robust strategy for combating device-associated infections. Download: Download high-res image (351KB) Download: Download full-size image