This Nobel Prize-winning material can physically impale, puncture, and kill bacteria — all without using antibiotics or toxic chemicals.
A new type of surface coating made from metal-organic frameworks, the porous materials that earned the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, can mechanically destroy bacteria by poking holes in their outer layers before they form slimy protective films. Researchers report in Advanced Science that these coatings, built with sharp nanoscale spikes, killed up to 83 percent of common bacteria like E. coli in lab tests, offering a fresh way to fight infections and fouling on everything from medical implants to ship hulls.
“Our study shows that these nanostructures can act like tiny spikes that physically injure the bacteria, quite simply puncturing them so that they die. It’s a completely new way of using such metal-organic frameworks,” says the study’s lead author Zhejian Cao, PhD in Materials Engineering and researcher at Chalmers.
Bacteria on surfaces are a big problem worldwide, especially in hospitals where they cling to devices like catheters or hip replacements, forming tough biofilms that shield them from drugs and the immune system. These infections affect millions, drive up costs, and fuel antibiotic resistance. Similar biofilms plague ships by attracting algae and barnacles, boosting fuel use, or corroding industrial pipes, cutting efficiency.
To tackle this, the team at Chalmers University of Technology stacked two biocompatible metal-organic frameworks — UiO-66 as a base and MIL-88B as spikes — to create hybrid structures with pointy nanotips less than 5 nanometers wide at the end, about 200 nanometers at the base, and 300 nanometers long. They tested two ways to apply them: growing the layers directly on surfaces in place, which aligned the spikes mostly upright like a single pin, or making the hybrids first and then dropping them onto surfaces, which often resulted in a four-pin-up orientation like a caltrop.
A key challenge was spacing the tips just right. “If the distance between the nanotips is too large, bacteria can slip through and attach to the surface. If the distance is too small, however, the mechanical stress exerted by the nanotips on the bacterial cell capsule may be reduced so that the bacteria survive – the same principle that allows you to lie on a bed of nails without getting hurt,” says Zhejian Cao.
In experiments, the researchers exposed the coatings to E. coli and other bacteria, including drug-resistant strains, for up to 72 hours. Microscope images showed bacteria stretched, impaled, or squeezed to death, with deflated cells and leaking insides. The dropcast version worked best initially, likely because it covered more area without gaps. Computer simulations confirmed the spikes could exert enough stress — up to 114 megapascals on E. coli — to rupture cell walls.
Unlike past antibacterial uses of these frameworks that relied on releasing toxic metals, this approach is purely physical and avoids resistance risks. “It fights a major global problem, as it eliminates the risk that controlling bacteria will lead to antibiotic resistance,” says Zhejian Cao.
The coatings form at low temperatures, around room level, for dropcasting, making them easy to scale up and apply to plastics or other heat-sensitive materials. “These coatings can be produced at much lower temperatures than, for example, the graphene arrays previously developed at Chalmers. This facilitates large-scale production and makes it possible to apply the coatings to temperature-sensitive materials such as the plastics used in medical implants. In addition, the organic polymers in metal-organic frameworks can be created from recycled plastics, having the potential to contribute to a circular economy,” says Lars Öhrström.
While debris from dead bacteria reduced effectiveness over time, regular cleaning could help, and the team sees promise for real-world uses like safer implants or eco-friendly ship paints.
Citations: Zhejian, et al. “Mechano-Bactericidal Surfaces Achieved by Epitaxial Growth of Metal–Organic Frameworks.” Advanced Science. November 2025. DOI: 10.1002/advs.202505976.
