A Facile Method to Prepare a Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Metal Surface by Peptide

A facile method to prepare a hydrophilic/hydrophobic metal surface by metal-binding peptide was proposed in this article. Metal-binding peptide sequenced NLNPNTASAMHV was taken as the target peptide to interact with stainless steel. The surface morphology, roughness and Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed that some changes occurred on the modified stainless steel surface. Not only were the surfaces coarser but also some organic groups appeared on the modified sample surfaces. By comparing the CAs of all the samples, the most suitable concentration of peptide and treating time were determined. A new and facile way to endow some metals surfaces with hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity has been developed, which is useful especially for antibiofouling.