Effect of nanoparticle (NP) size and linkage chemistry on attachment density and growth rate. Representative scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of (a) ABS NanoBEADS (E-800-60) with 165 nm NPs, (b) ABS NanoBEADS (E-800-60) with 121 nm NPs, (c) BS NanoBEADS (E-800-60) with 165 nm NPs, (d) BS NanoBEADS (E-800-60) with 121 nm NPs. All scale bars are 500 nm. (e) The NP areal attachment density as a function of NP size for the ABS NanoBEADS and BS NanoBEADS variants. The black bars indicate means and 95% confidence intervals. ****p-value < 0.0001. (f) The comparison of doubling time of the variants of NanoBEADS and mechanically-treated (E-800-60) bacteria with no particles attached as the control. Each data point represents the mean ± standard deviation. *p-value < 0.05.