ABSTRACT High‐touch electronic displays represent a significant source of pathogenic contamination, creating an urgent need for protective coatings that combine antibacterial efficacy and mechanical robustness. However, developing protective coatings for emerging flexible displays faces a formidable challenge, as they must simultaneously satisfy a series of often‐conflicting property requirements: potent antibacterial activity, high biocompatibility, excellent transparency, robust mechanical durability, as well as intrinsic flexibility. Developing a single coating that integrates all the required functionalities therefore remains a highly anticipated goal. Herein, we resolve this challenge through an “all‐in‐one” precursor strategy involving the incorporation of the bifunctional coupling agent, 3‐mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane, into a perhydropolysilazane‐Ag + system. This multicomponent design enables a synergistic chemical cascade that controls the in situ formation, stabilization, and subsequent covalent anchoring of silver nanoparticles within a dense SiO x matrix during a mild curing process. The resulting coating demonstrates a seamless integration of multiple high‐performance properties: potent and durable antibacterial activity (>99.99%), excellent biocompatibility, polymer‐like flexibility, glass‐like damage tolerance, and high transparency. This work provides a reliable and scalable approach for fabricating robust, multifunctional protective surfaces, making it highly promising for next‐generation flexible electronics where both durability and hygiene are paramount.
Bi et al. (Sat,) studied this question.