School of Chemistry and Physics and Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia.
School of Biology and Environmental Science and Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2022 May 9;12(1):7560. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-11400-8.
This work reveals a versatile new method to produce films with antimicrobial properties that can also bond materials together with robust tensile adhesive strength. Specifically, we demonstrate the formation of coatings by using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma to convert a liquid small-molecule precursor, m-cresol, to a solid film via plasma-assisted on-surface polymerisation. The films are quite appealing from a sustainability perspective: they are produced using a low-energy process and from a molecule produced in abundance as a by-product of coal tar processing. This process consumes only 1.5 Wh of electricity to create a 1 cm film, which is much lower than other methods commonly used for film deposition, such as chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Plasma treatments were performed in plain air without the need for any carrier or precursor gas, with a variety of exposure durations. By varying the plasma parameters, it is possible to modify both the adhesive property of the film, which is at a maximum at a 1 min plasma exposure, and the antimicrobial property of the film against Escherichia coli, which is at a maximum at a 30 s exposure.
这项工作揭示了一种通用的新方法，可以生产具有抗菌性能的薄膜，同时还可以用强大的拉伸胶结强度将材料粘结在一起。具体来说，我们通过使用介质阻挡放电（DBD）等离子体将液体小分子前体间甲酚转化为固体薄膜，展示了涂层的形成，这是通过等离子体辅助表面聚合实现的。从可持续性的角度来看，这些薄膜非常有吸引力：它们是通过低能量过程和大量生产的分子（作为煤焦油加工的副产品）生产的。与其他常用的薄膜沉积方法（如化学气相沉积（CVD））相比，该过程仅需 1.5 瓦时的电量即可创建 1 厘米厚的薄膜，这要低得多。等离子体处理在普通空气中进行，无需任何载体或前体气体，只需不同的暴露时间。通过改变等离子体参数，可以同时改变薄膜的粘结性能（在 1 分钟的等离子体暴露下达到最大值）和薄膜对大肠杆菌的抗菌性能（在 30 秒的暴露下达到最大值）。
