Investigation into the antibacterial property of carbon films

Here we reported the antibacterial characteristics of carbon film and the effect of film composition on its antibacterial performance. Two kinds of carbon films, amorphous hydrogenated carbon film and hydrogen-free carbon film deposited on medical stainless steel using microwave plasma were characterized using Raman Spectra, FT-IR (Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy), AFM (atomic force microscopy) methods and investigated on their antibacterial property. By the colony-counting method, it was found that the H-free carbon film coating and a-C:H film coating reduced the numbers of E. coli colonies down to about 15% and 33% of those in the original SUS substrate, respectively. The present results suggested that the antibacterial property was strongly related with the chemical inertness of carbon film.