Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles incorporating with polyethylene glycol (PEG) were deposited together on the surface of silicone hydrogel through matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE). In this process, frozen nanocomposites (ZnO-PEG) in isopropanol were irradiated under a pulsed Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm for 1 h. Our results indicate that the MAPLE process is able to maintain the chemical backbone of polymer and prevent the nanocomposite coating from contamination. The ZnO-PEG nanocomposited coating reduces over 50% protein absorption on silicone hydrogel. The cytotoxicity study shows that the ZnO-PEG nanocomposites deposited on silicone hydrogels do not impose the toxic effect on mouse NIH/3T3 cells. In addition, MAPLE-deposited ZnO-PEG nanocomposites can inhibit the bacterial growth significantly. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.