In this study, a simple method to immobilize chitosan on a poly(lactic
acid) (PLA) surface was developed in a fast manner. The immobilization
was realized in two steps. First, an atmospheric plasma (MWAP) torch
was used to modify the PLA surface in less than 5 min in order to
create enough activated sites toward the chitosan adhesion, followed
by a direct dip coating to spread and immobilize chitosan on this
MWAP-modified PLA surface. The modification of the PLA surface properties
was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), water contact
angle, and atomic force microscopy. It resulted that the activated
species derived from the plasma torch, i.e., hydroxyl and carboxylic
acid moieties, enabled an increase of the hydrophilicity of the PLA
surface. Interestingly, this activated surface allows a good spreading
of chitosan solution from dip coating and leads to a homogeneous stable
coating. Our XPS results bring us the hypothesis that the stabilization
of the chitosan layer is mainly induced by noncovalent interactions
such as hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. A first insight
into the biological properties of theses surfaces was assessed in
terms of the antimicrobial activity of the here-designed surfaces.