Plasma technology in antimicrobial surface engineering

Abstract

The design of advanced materials with superb anti-bacterial efficiency by engineering appropriate surface properties has now become a consolidated strategy to improve the functional properties of polymers, metals, and a variety of biomedical materials. Antimicrobial coatings can create a healthier living and working environment and offer holistic solutions to people with health problems. This Tutorial will serve as a reference point for scientists pursuing sustainable antimicrobial coatings development, by providing a design framework and a toolbox for enabling plasma-based technologies in additive engineering of new materials. A succinct description of how novel, efficient methods based on non-equilibrium reactive plasma chemistries can be applied to produce sophisticated, high-value advanced coatings with the anti-bacterial or antifungal function will be used to illustrate the utility of plasma methods. Described plasma-based methods can minimize the process steps and dramatically reduce the use of expensive and hazardous reagents, which is a point of high interest in the development of novel sustainable and green manufacturing processes. The Tutorial aims to provide an overview of the principle and state-of-the-art in plasma technology, which is useful for researchers and broad auditoria of students working in antimicrobial materials development and additive engineering.

Plasma–liquid interactions: an experiment and simulation study on plasma dynamic behaviors near the gas–liquid interfacial layer

“…Plasma-liquid interactions constitute a rapidly expanding field of plasma science and technology due to their broad range of applications, including but not limited to food processing [1], synthesis of nanomaterials and biomaterials [2][3][4] and plasma bio-medicine [5], etc. The interface between gas-phase plasma * Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.…”

Surface antimicrobial functionalization with polymers: fabrication, mechanisms and applications

“…Moreover, the combination of other surface treatment methods, e.g., nanotechnology and plasma treatment, with polymer coating is possible to enhance microorganism-killing and anti-adhesive functions simultaneously. [156][157][158] Advanced surface analysis techniques are also important tools to understand the antimicrobial mechanism of polymer coating. Additionally, more studies on clinical treatment and environment evaluation are required to prevent toxicity or pollution to the environment and to enhance practical use.…”

Plasma polymerization for biomedical applications: A review

“…When the network is synthesized with sufficient stability and water-absorbing properties, antibacterial metal ions are released by the metal clusters in aqueous conditions. [87,88] The large majority of such studies have focused on Ag nanoparticles or Ag + ions, and the combination of Ag and plasma polymers is discussed further below in Section 2.4.…”