Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Technology: a Straightforward Deposition of Antibacterial Coatings

Bacterial adhesion and proliferation is a widespread problem following an increasing trend. In this paper, antibacterial coatings were deposited on stainless steel substrates by means of atmospheric pressure plasma technology. Butylamine and 3‐(trimethoxysilyl)‐propyldimethyoctadecylammonium chloride (ODAMO) were used as precursors. The influence of the plasma parameters was investigated by variation of the power input levels and operation under different carrier gases. Characterization of the coating was carried out using contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM), and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Carrier gas change affected the chemical composition and the surface energy of ODAMO based coating. Moreover, bactericidal activity is decreasing with increase of the plasma power input. Hydrophilic and smooth ODAMO based plasma coating presented the best antibacterial performance. Deposited layers demonstrated up to a log 6 reduction against E. coli after 24 h incubation. Butylamine‐based plasma coatings presented a limited antibacterial effect and the influence of the plasma parameters was not detected. magnified image