Abstract
A comparative study of the effects of plasma deposited amorphous carbon (a-C:H) thin film and He/O2 plasma surface treatment of PET on the physicochemical surface properties and the initial bacterial (Staphylococcus epidermidis) adhesion was performed. CH4/H2 RF discharges with different substrate bias voltages were used for the deposition of a-C:H thin films while He/O2 plasmas with different O2 fractions were used for the surface treatment of PET. All the plasma modifications were shown to significantly reduce the bacterial adhesion in comparison to the untreated PET; however, the reduction was greater for the He/O2 surface treatment. The increase in the surface free energy of the substrate surfaces due to He/O2 plasma treatments seems to inhibit bacterial adhesion and aggregation.
Published Version
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