The incidence of hospital‐acquired infections is to a large extent due to device‐associated infections. Bacterial attachment and biofilm formation on surfaces of medical devices often act as seeding points of infection. To prevent such infections, coatings based on silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are often applied, however with varying clinical success. Here, the traditional AgNP‐based antibacterial technology is reimagined, now forming the base for an electroenhanced antimicrobial coating. To integrate AgNPs in an electrically conducting polymer layer, a simple, yet effective chemical strategy based on poly(hydroxymethyl 3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT‐MeOH:PSS) and (3‐aminopropyl)triethoxysilane is designed. The resultant PEDOT‐MeOH:PSS–AgNP composite presents a consistent coating of covalently linked AgNPs, as shown by scanning electron microscopy and surface plasmon resonance analysis. The efficacy of the coatings, with and without electrical addressing, is then tested against Staphylococcus aureus, a major colonizer of medical implants. Using custom‐designed culturing devices, a nearly complete prevention of biofilm growth is obtained in AgNP composite devices addressed with a square wave voltage input. It is concluded that this electroenhancement of the bactericidal effect of the coupled AgNPs offers a novel, efficient solution against biofilm colonization of medical implants.

中文翻译：

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基于共轭偶联的银纳米粒子的共轭聚合物的电子增强抗菌涂层可防止金黄色葡萄球菌生物膜形成

医院获得性感染的发生在很大程度上是由于设备相关的感染。医疗器械表面的细菌附着和生物膜形成通常充当感染的种子点。为了防止这种感染，通常使用基于银纳米颗粒（AgNPs）的涂料，但是在临床上取得了不同的成功。在这里，对传统的基于AgNP的抗菌技术进行了重新构想，现已成为电子增强型抗菌涂层的基础。为了将AgNPs整合到导电聚合物层中，设计了一种简单而有效的化学策略，该策略基于聚（羟甲基3,4-亚乙基二氧噻吩）：聚苯乙烯磺酸盐（PEDOT-MeOH：PSS）和（3-氨基丙基）三乙氧基硅烷。所得的PEDOT-MeOH：PSS-AgNP复合材料呈现出共价键合的AgNP的一致涂层，如扫描电子显微镜和表面等离子体共振分析所示。然后测试涂层在有无电寻址情况下的功效。金黄色葡萄球菌，医疗植入物的主要定植者。使用定制设计的培养设备，用方波电压输入处理的AgNP复合设备几乎可以完全防止生物膜的生长。结论是，偶联的AgNP的杀菌作用的这种电增强提供了一种新颖，有效的解决方案，可防止医疗植入物的生物膜定殖。