Fig. 8.

Antibacterial mechanism of periodic micro/nano-pillar array (E. coli). E. coli on a flat surface: (a) (b) (c) Hypothesis models corresponding to a bacterium at Phase 1, 2, and 3; (a’) (b’) (c’) SEM top views (with false color) corresponding to a bacterium at Phase 1, 2, and 3. The arrow in (c’) indicates a binary fission position. E. coli in a pillar array: (d) (e) (f) Hypothesis models corresponding to a bacterium at Phase 1, 2, and 3; (d’) (e’) (f’) SEM top views (with false color) corresponding to a bacterium at Phase 1, 2, and 3. SEM actual observation proves that the pillar array could inhibit the normal elongation (e’) and binary fission (f’) of E. coli as predicted by the hypothesis models in (e) and (f), respectively.