Langmuir 2006, 22, 8607-8613
8607
Design of Antibacterial Surfaces by a Combination of Electrochemistry and Controlled Radical Polymerization S. Voccia, M. Ignatova,† R. Je´roˆme,* and C. Je´roˆme Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules (CERM), UniVersity of Liege, B6 Sart-Tilman, B-4000 Liege, Belgium ReceiVed March 6, 2006. In Final Form: July 7, 2006 In this paper we report a new method for the electrochemical deposition of a metal/polymer composite layer on a conducting substrate. The electrochemical solution is a mixture of an acrylate (ethyl acrylate, EA; 2-phenyl-2(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yloxy)ethyl acrylate, PTEA; 8-quinolinyl acrylate, 8QA), a metallic salt (silver(I) acetate), and a conducting salt in dimethylformamide. The process has been first studied with EA as the polymer precursor and then extended to PTEA and 8QA, respectively, with the purpose to prepare antibacterial surfaces. The final coating has been characterized by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energydispersive X-ray analysis, environmental scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. All the silvercontaining coatings were effective against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli. Bacteria Staphylococcus aureus could not adhere to the Ag0/polyacrylate films deposited on stainless steel.
Introduction Stainless steel 316L is widely used for the preparation of implants in orthopedic surgery.1,2 Bioinertness is a major limitation of metallic prosthesis and medical devices, which makes them unable to stop bacteria proliferation in the case of infection.3 There is, therefore, a need to design novel coatings for metallic prosthesis endowed with antiproliferation and/or antiadhesive properties toward bacteria. As far as electrically conducting solids are concerned, electrografting of acrylic monomers has been reported as a useful tool to promote strong adhesion of a thin polyacrylate layer (
