Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Polymerisation of D-Limonene and Its Antimicrobial Activity

Abstract

Antibacterial coating is necessary to prevent biofilm-forming bacteria from colonising medical tools causing infection and sepsis in patients. The recent coating strategies such as immobilisation of antimicrobial materials and low-pressure plasma polymerisation may require multiple processing steps involving a high-vacuum system and time-consuming process. Some of those have limited efficacy and durability. Here, we report a rapid and one-step atmospheric pressure plasma polymerisation (APPP) of D-limonene to produce nano-thin films with hydrophobic-like properties for antibacterial applications. The influence of plasma polymerisation time on the thickness, surface characteristic, and chemical composition of the plasma-polymerised films was systematically investigated. Results showed that the nano-thin films deposited at 1 min on glass substrate are optically transparent and homogenous, with a thickness of 44.3 ± 4.8 nm, a smooth surface with an average roughness of 0.23 ± 0.02 nm. For its antimicrobial activity, the biofilm assay evaluation revealed a significant 94% decrease in the number of Escherichia coli (E. coli) compared to the control sample. More importantly, the resultant nano-thin films exhibited a potent bactericidal effect that can distort and rupture the membrane of the treated bacteria. These findings provide important insights into the development of bacteria-resistant and biocompatible coatings on the arbitrary substrate in a straightforward and cost-effective route at atmospheric pressure.

Zircon-Type CaCrO4 Chromite Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Application for Sunlight-Induced Degradation of Rhodamine B

“…The oxygen O 1s peaks in the CaCrO 4 sample are shown in Figure b, and the observable peaks in the O 1s binding energy region were found to be 530.6 and 531.8 eV, respectively. A similar study has been reported in the literature. , The high-resolution XPS spectra that were employed to verify the valence state of the Cr species within the CaCrO 4 structure are shown in Figure c. The Cr 2p spectrum was deconvolved into four peaks, and the best fit was obtained.…”

“…A similar study has been reported in the literature. 35 , 36 The high-resolution XPS spectra that were employed to verify the valence state of the Cr species within the CaCrO 4 structure are shown in Figure 7 c. The Cr 2p spectrum was deconvolved into four peaks, and the best fit was obtained. The Cr 2p spectrum contains two doublets, 2p 3/2 and 2p 1/2 , Peaks at 576.4 and 586.5 eV were attributed to Cr (III) 2p 3/2 and 2p 1/2 , respectively, while peaks at 579.9 and 588.9 eV were assigned to Cr (III) 2p 3/2 and Cr (III) 2p 1/2 , respectively (VI).…”

Plasma-Polymerised Antibacterial Coating of Ovine Tendon Collagen Type I (OTC) Crosslinked with Genipin (GNP) and Dehydrothermal-Crosslinked (DHT) as a Cutaneous Substitute for Wound Healing

“…The XPS survey scan results revealed a standard carbon C 1 s peak at about 285 binding energy. After ppCar, the corresponding binding energies were used to component-fit the carbon C1s peaks: C-H/C-C is 285.0 eV (hydrocarbons), C-O-C/C-N/C-OH is 286.3 eV (hydroxyl or ether), N-C=O/C=O is 287.6 eV (carbonyl) and O-C=O is 288.8 eV (carboxyl) [ 32 ]. These XPS bonds confirm the presence of the plasma-polymerised carvone (ppCar) thin film.…”

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Polymerization of Carvone: A Promising Approach for Antimicrobial Coatings

“…In order to bind these antibacterial precursor materials, several coating strategies have been investigated for this purpose, such as atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) [10], self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) [11], and layer-by-layer deposition [12], as well as plasma polymerization or plasma treatment [13,14]. Particularly, plasma treatment and plasma polymerization are emerging techniques that can be distinguished from each other based on the utilization of an organic precursor in the latter process, which deposits a film of polymeric coating onto the substrate.…”

“…The resulting products, including reactive species and nonreactive ones, were deposited onto the chosen substrate, where adsorption and surface reactions occurred at the same time. Several published studies have investigated the antibacterial properties of various non-carvone coatings produced by this APPJ process [13,17].…”