AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition
    Surface Modification of Materials by Plasmas for Medical Purposes Focus Topic Thursday Sessions
       Session SM+AS+BI+PS-ThM

Invited Paper SM+AS+BI+PS-ThM3
The Role of Plasma Surface Modification in Antimicrobial Thin Films and Strategies

Thursday, November 13, 2014, 8:40 am, Room 315

Session: Plasma Processing of Antimicrobial Materials and Devices
Presenter: Renate Foerch, FhG-ICT-IMM, Germany
Correspondent: Click to Email
“Delivery on demand” has become a key issue in the development of solutions for bacterial infection and the evolution of resistance. Antimicrobial bioactive coatings may be thin layers, scaffolds or hybrid materials with chemically immobilized or physically embedded antimicrobial substances that act while tethered to a surface or that are released either passively or upon a stimulus. Examples include burst release systems of an antimicrobial from plasma polymerised thin films that have fed into a recent efforts aiming to develop, characterize and evaluate nanocomposite coatings consisting of thin films, nanoparticles and nanocarrier systems. The nanocomposite coatings are formulated to respond to specific changes in the surrounding environment. The work to be described is part of a European-Australian effort to investigate new strategies to combat microbial infection; it draws expertise from plasma assisted technologies and wet chemical post plasma attachment of responsive nanocontainers carrying an antimicrobial to treat bacterial infection.