Physically Enhanced Antibacterial Performance in Nanostructures Inspired by Nature: A Route to Avoiding Antimicrobial Resistance

The rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the challenge of developing safe and effective antibacterial strategies pose growing public health threats. Bioinspired nanostructured surfaces with mechano-bactericidal activity provide a purely physical antibacterial strategy without the risk of inducing AMR. However, their antibacterial performance is often limited, particularly regarding long-term effectiveness and varying bactericidal efficacy against different strains. Generally, these nanostructured surfaces are combined with other antibacterial strategies to enhance their performance. Among these, physically enhanced methods can achieve satisfactory antibacterial effects while completely circumventing AMR, making them a safer and more sustainable way to assist these nanostructured surfaces. Herein, we highlight recent advances in bioinspired nanostructured bactericidal surfaces with physically enhanced performance, delving into their design principles and mechanisms of physical enhancement and summarizing related trends. These insights provide theoretical support for designing novel nanostructured bactericidal surfaces and purely physical antibacterial strategies, offering innovative solutions for bacterial infection control while effectively mitigating AMR.