Novel type of antibacterial coatings on textile materials and plastics with controllable release of antibacterial agent - PlasmaTex

Project summary

In the PlasmaTex project a new class of antibacterial coatings for medical textiles and plastics will be developed. The proposed approach is to use a layered coating with a layer containing Ag nanoparticles and an additional barrier layer for controlled release of the antibacterial agent. The coatings are deposited by atmospheric pressure plasma, a versatile technique that allows producing uniform high quality coatings on almost any material. The research issues that will be addressed in the project include the detailed physical chemistry of the plasma-assisted deposition process and the release mechanism of the antibacterial agent through the barrier layer. Advanced plasma, surface and microbiological diagnostics will be deployed to establish a relationship between process parameters and coating performance. The gained knowledge will be applied to define a scalable coating methodology that yields nanocomposite coatings with superior antibacterial efficiencies.