Controlled wet-chemical modification and bacterial adhesion on PVC-surfaces

The influence of the chemical structure at the surface of PVC films on the adhesion behaviour of bacteria is studied. Wet-chemical modification reactions were employed to introduce groups of different chemical nature onto the PVC surface. The concentration gradient of the modifier across the films was determined by confocal Raman spectroscopy. The bacterial adhesion of two different strands was tested and shown that certain modifiers can reduce the number of bacteria at the polymer surface to 50%.