Abstract

In this work we have investigated the effect of oxygen plasma treatment of graphenic surfaces and the introduction of functional groups on changes in work function, wettability, surface free energy and bacterial adhesion. The plasma parameters were adjusted (generator power: <60W, exposure time: <20min) to limit the modifications to the surface without changing the bulk structure. The parent and modified graphenic surfaces were thoroughly characterized by μRaman spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, scanning electron microscopy, contact angle, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, work function and microbiological tests. It was found that even the short time of plasma modification results in a significant increase in work function, surface free energy and hydrophilicity. The changes in surface chemistry stimulate also substantial changes in bacterial adhesion. The strong relationship between work function and adhesion of bacteria was observed for all the investigated strains (Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli) whereas the bacterial colonization trend correlates with the bacterial zeta potential. The bacteria-graphenic surface interaction is discussed in terms of total interaction energy. The results point out the work function lowering of the graphenic biomaterial surface as an effective strategy for the infection risk limitation.

Highlights

  • The medical device industry has made enormous progress during the past decades, owing to the gained knowledge on the development of advanced materials technologies

  • Whereas the Raman spectroscopy is sensitive for carbon structural changes, it does not provide the information about the surface modifications

  • The effect of oxygen functional groups introduced to graphenic surfaces on bacterial adhesion was evaluated for a serious of microorganisms: Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli

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Summary

Introduction

The medical device industry has made enormous progress during the past decades, owing to the gained knowledge on the development of advanced materials technologies. Graphene-based biomaterials are extensively investigated in recent years in the context of biological and medical applications such as, but not limited to stem cells differentiation, muscle tissue engineering, bone regeneration, drug delivery, gene therapy, photothermal therapy, dentistry, and bio-imaging [8,9,10,11,12]. Graphene family materials have great potential in biomedical applications, there is a strong need to investigate their biological properties [9,13,14]. The major issue concerning the use of implantable materials is the infection risk and subsequent complications described as surgical-site infections (SSI) including implant and biomaterials-associated infections (BAI) [15,16,17]. Depending on the surgical procedure type, the SSI can reach up to 9% yearly [18] and cause 8% of all deaths implicated by nosocomial infections [21]

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