Antibacterial Performance of a Cu-bearing Stainless Steel against Microorganisms in Tap Water

Abstract

Date of Acceptance: 11/11/2014Tap water is one of the most commonly used water resources in our daily life. However, the increasing water contamination and the health risk caused by pathogenic bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli have attracted more attention. The mutualism of different pathogenic bacteria may diminish antibacterial effect of antibacterial agents. It was found that materials used for making pipe and tap played one of the most important roles in promoting bacterial growth. This paper is to report the performance of an innovative type 304 Cu-bearing stainless steel (304CuSS) against microbes in tap water. The investigation methodologies involved were means of heterotrophic plate count, contact angle measurements, scanning electron microscopy for observing the cell and subtract surface morphology, atomic absorption spectrometry for copper ions release study, and confocal laser scanning microscopy used for examining live/dead bacteria on normal 304 stainless steel and 304CuSS. It was found that the surface free energy varied after being immersed in tap water with polar component and Cu ions release. The results showed 304CuSS could effectively kill most of the planktonic bacteria (max 95.9% antibacterial rate), and consequently inhibit bacterial biofilms formation on the surface, contributing to the reduction of pathogenic risk to the surrounding environments

Synthesis and Characterization of Monometallic (Ag, Cu) and Bimetallic Ag-Cu Particles for Antibacterial and Antifungal Applications

“…However, the preparation of the Cu NPs is problematic due to their easy oxidation. Therefore, many studies are required to develop simple shape-controlled synthesis methods of Ag/Cu bimetallic nanoparticles (Ag/Cu NPs) [27][28][29][30][31]. Currently, the developed synthesis methods for Ag and Cu NPs include a chemical reduction, thermal decomposition, polyol, laser ablation, and an electron beam irradiation.…”

Effects of Cr2N Precipitation on the Antibacterial Properties of AISI 430 Stainless Steel

“…It is noted that the various antibacterial mechanisms could improve the antibacterial properties of a biomaterial. Li et al [13] claimed that some precipitation of copper ions on the austenitic 304 stainless steel with 3.88 mass % copper resulted in antibacterial effects through inhibition of biofilm growth. Yang and Nan [14,15] also proposed that copper ions had excellent reducing capacity and could destroy the cell wall and membrane of Escherichia coli cells by binding with electrons in the bacteria, resulting in loss of the cytoplasm, oxidation of the nucleus, and death of the bacterial cells.…”

Laboratory investigation of the microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) resistance of a novel Cu-bearing 2205 duplex stainless steel in the presence of an aerobic marinePseudomonas aeruginosabiofilm

“…A relatively large quantity of dispersed dead sessile cells and a small amount of live sessile cells were present on the 2205 Cu-DSS surface. The antibacterial efficiency K of 2205 Cu-DSS was calculated from Equation 2 (Li, Nan et al 2015):…”