Hydrophobic Bacteria-Repellant Graphene Coatings from Recycled Pencil Stubs

Graphene has exhaustive features and accomplishments behind its name; recently, the bacteria-repellant activity of graphene is beginning to surface. In the current study, we have demonstrated the preparation of hydrophobic coatings of graphene on hydrophilic glass surfaces. Using recycled pencil stubs as the source material combined with a sonication exfoliation methodology, successful graphene coatings on glass were obtained. The bacteria-repellant property of the coating was validated against four different biofilm-forming pathogenic bacteria. The graphene coatings were observed to be hydrophobic in nature and able to repel bacterial adhesion. The coating can be obtained on any substrate of choice and hence would prove to be of unequivocal importance as an antifouling coating on industrial piping's and medical equipments and implant materials that are prone to bacterial fouling.