Super-lubricating hybrid elastomer with rapid photothermal sterilization and strong anti-cell adhesion

Silicone elastomer has been widely used as raw materials for manufacturing medical soft catheters. The surface properties of silicone elastomer, such as bactericidal performance, anti-cell adhesion and surface lubrication, are essential features to determine whether the catheters can fully play the role in transporting liquid or gas to organisms. To realize the integration of interfacial functions, we develop a super-lubricating hybrid elastomer with rapid photothermal sterilization and strong anti-cell adhesion capacities. Specifically, a hybrid elastomer is prepared by grafting one kind of lubricating polymers with anti-cell adhesion onto near-infrared (NIR) photothermal Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles-loaded polydimethylsiloxane substrate. Through the hydration lubrication, a super-low friction is realized on the surface of this hybrid elastomer. More importantly, this elastomer achieves a rapid photothermal bactericidal performance by local heating triggered by NIR irradiation. In addition, this hybrid elastomer shows a strong anti-adhesion effect against HepG2 cells. Based on these merits, this hybrid elastomer shows great potential for producing biomedical catheters that may realize anti-tissue adhesion, rapid sterilization, and reduction of interfacial resistance between catheters and biological tissues.