Antimicrobial Efficacy of Low Concentration PVP-Silver Nanoparticles Deposited on DBD Plasma-Treated Polyamide 6,6 Fabric

• Main Authors: Ana Isabel Ribeiro, Dilara Senturk, Késia Karina Silva, Martina Modic, Uros Cvelbar, Gheorghe Dinescu, Bogdana Mitu, Anton Nikiforov, Christophe Leys, Irina Kuchakova, Mike De Vrieze, António Pedro Souto, Andrea Zille
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
• Series: Coatings
• Subjects: silver nanoparticles; dielectric barrier discharge; plasma; antimicrobial; exhaustion; spray
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6412/9/9/581

In this study, a low concentration (10 μg·mL⁻¹) of poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP)-coated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were deposited by spray and exhaustion (30, 70 and 100 °C) methods onto untreated and dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma-treated polyamide 6,6 (PA66) fabric. DBD plasma-treated samples showed higher AgNP deposition than untreated ones for all methods. After five washing cycles, only DBD plasma-treated samples displayed AgNPs on the fabric surface. The best-performing method was exhaustion at 30 °C, which exhibited less agglomeration and the best antibacterial efficacy against <i>S. aureus</i> (4 log reduction). For <i>E. coli</i>, the antimicrobial effect showed good results in all the exhaustion samples (5 log reduction). Considering the spray method, only the DBD plasma-treated samples showed some bacteriostatic activity for both strains, but the AgNP concentration was not enough to have a bactericidal effect. Our results suggest DBD plasma may be a low cost and chemical-free method for the preparation of antibacterial textiles, allowing for the immobilization of a very low—but effective—concentration of AgNPs.