Analyzing the mechano-bactericidal effect of nano-patterned surfaces by finite element method and verification with artificial neural networks

The study investigated the effect of geometric structures of nano-patterned surfaces, such as peak sharpness, height, width, aspect ratio, and spacing, on mechano-bactericidal properties. Here, in silico models were developed to explain surface interactions with Escherichia coli. Numerical solutions were performed based on the finite element method and verified by the artificial neural network method. An E. coli cell adhered to the nano surface formed elastic and creep deformation models, and the cells' maximum deformation, maximum stress, and maximum strain were calculated. The results determined that the increase in peak sharpness, aspect ratio, and spacing values increased the maximum deformation, maximum stress, and maximum strain on E. coli cell. In addition, the results showed that FEM and ANN methods were in good agreement with each other. This study proved that the geometrical structures of nano-patterned surfaces have an important role in the mechano-bactericidal effect.