According to the Baier minima, surfaces having critical surface tensions between 20-30 mN/m are considered as foul release surfaces. PDMS or silicone material falls under this range according to literature then why silicone catheter surface allows biofilm formation on to it ?
I suggest that you read these two papers:
doi.org/10.1080/08927014.2012.690197
DOI: 10.22203/eCM.v0S0u7rfaa0c6e p
They show that the situation, especially in a biological setting, is much more complex than surface tension or Baier minima. Silicone is always coated with a host - derived protein / glycopeptide conditioning film when inserted into the body, and this completely alters the surface characteristics. In addition, in vitro without the conditioning film, some bacteria possess binding proteins that can attach to native silicone, eg vitronectin - binding protein.
Surface hydrophobicity plays a major role in biofilm formation. Bacteria and diatom prefer hydrophobic surfaces and forms biofilms.
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