Surface modification of nitrile membranes by DBD plasma and their antibacterial properties

Abstract

Surface modification of nitrile membranes to achieve antibacterial activities is of great importance. In the present study, an atmospheric pressure DBD plasma setup is used for the surface modification of nitrile membranes, where silver nanoparticles and copper oxides particles prove to be generated from silver acetylacetonate (Ag(acac)) and copper acetylacetonate (Cu(acac)2). Complementary characterization has been performed to study the plasma-derived products as well as the modified membranes, such as XRD, TEM, FT-IR, SEM, AFM, EDX, XPS, OES, etc. It is shown crystalline Ag nanoparticles and CuOx particles are directly prepared by the DBD plasma setup, which can be strongly absorbed on the surface of the nitrile membranes. Based on the experiment results and previous studies, the plasma surface modification process is discussed. Antibacterial tests against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) show the AgNPs-deposited nitrile membranes possess apparent antibacterial activities, in contrast to the CuOx particles-deposited membranes. This simple, rapid, and flexible plasma process together with the antibacterial activities of membranes is expected to provide guidance for the surface modification of polymers with desired properties.