*2.7. Antibacterial Performance of the Biocomposites*

To determine the performance of the antibacterial coatings, fragments from the different study groups were inoculated with *S. aureus* (Sa) ATCC25923 and *S. epidermidis* (Se) ATCC35984, purchased from the Spanish Type Culture Collection (Valencia, Spain). In all the experiments carried out, the inoculating dose was 10<sup>6</sup> CFU/mL. Bacterial suspensions were prepared immediately before starting the procedures. To avoid cross-contamination, all the assays described below were developed in an independent manner for Sa and Se.

### 2.7.1. Elaboration of the Bacterial Suspensions

Bacteria were thawed, spread onto lysogeny broth (LB) agar plates (Biomérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) and incubated for 24 h at 37 ◦C. A colony was transferred to 25 mL of LB broth. Following overnight incubation at 37 ◦C, the culture was diluted in sterile 0.9% saline to prepare the target inoculum (1.25–1.5 × 10<sup>6</sup> CFU/mL), by spectrophotometry (OD600). The number of viable CFU in each inoculum was determined by the spot plaque method.
