Anti-biofilm activity of Fe heavy ion irradiated polycarbonate

Polycarbonate (PC) polymers were investigated before and after high energy heavy ion irradiation for anti-bacterial properties. These PC films were irradiated by Fe heavy ions with two energies, viz, 60 and 120 MeV, at different fluences in the range from 1 × 1011 ions/cm2 to 1 × 1013 ions/cm2. UV-Visible spectroscopic results showed optical band gap decreased with increase in ion fluences due to chain scission mainly at carbonyl group of PC which is also corroborated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic results. X-ray diffractogram results showed decrease in crystallinity of PC after irradiation which leads to decrease in molecular weight. This is confirmed by rheological studies and also by differential scanning calorimetric results. The irradiated PC samples showed modification in their surfaces prevents biofilm formation of human pathogen, Salmonella typhi.