Plasma-Etched Nanostructured Polycarbonate Surfaces for Reduced Adhesion of E.coli bacteria

Abstract

Plasma-etching represents a facile approach to nanostructure polymer surfaces. Here we report on the antibacterial properties of plasma-structured polycarbonate (PC)surfaces. PC foils were structured with O2 plasma and incubated with E.coli. Metabolic activity of adhered live bacteria was quantified with resazurin metabolic indicator. Different incubation times under shaking/resting conditions diminished metabolic activity on structured versus unstructured PC, indicating reduced bacterial adhesion on structured surfaces. Furthermore chemical surface modifications increased metabolic activity on structured compared to unstructured surfaces. Further research on other polymers will be done to analyse the generality of these observations.