Surface antibacterial characteristics of plasma-modified polyethylene
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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Antimicrobial Characterization of Advanced Materials for Bioengineering Applications
Published on: August 4, 2018
Wei Zhang1, Paul K Chu, Junhui Ji
1Department of Physics & Materials Science,City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Abstract:
The antibacterial characteristics of triclosan- or bronopol-coated and plasma-modified polyethylene (PE) are investigated. The modified PE samples exhibit excellent bactericidal effects against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus even when the bacteria concentration in the suspension is 10(6) colony forming units (CFU)/mL. However, when the concentration exceeds 10(8) CFU/mL, the materials fail to develop noticeable resistance to large amount of bacteria because of the formation of a bacterial biofilm on their surfaces. The PE treated by this relatively simple technique possesses excellent antimicrobial properties and is useful in biomedical and disinfection applications because the bacteria concentrations in most situations are well below 10(6) CFU/mL.
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