Fig. 6
From: Nanostructured surface topographies have an effect on bactericidal activity
Biophysical model of bacterial cell adhering and stretching on nanostructured surfaces. a The bacterial cell was modeled as an elastic membrane adhering on the pillars with the stretching degree αA and suspending between them with the stretching degree αB. Two interaction patterns are schematically shown for relatively low pillar density at 30–70 pillars μm−2 (Cases I and II) and high pillar density at 60–100 pillars μm−2 (Cases III and IV). In Case I, the cell membrane covers the top cap of the nanopillars and also part of the vertical pillar wall marked by vertical distance z; while in Case II, the pillars have inhomogeneous height characterized by ∆h. In Case III, the cell membrane covers only the top cap of the nanopillars; while in Case IV, the dense pillars have height difference ∆h. b Calculated equilibrium stretching degrees αA and αB for the four cases at various pillar densities