Physics Colloquium

As part of the series of Colloquia and seminars organised by the University of Luxembourg in Campus Limpertsberg, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) will participate in the Physics Colloquium on 25 October 2017. 

LIST researcher in materials Dr Marilyne Moreno-Couranjou has been invited to give a talk at 4.00pm in Room BSC 3.04.  Dr Moreno-Couranjou is specialised in plasma surface engineering and was invited by prof. Alexandre Tkatchenko to present her scientific publication entitled "Plasma deposited thin films for natural biomolecule immobilization: A sustainable route for antibacterial surfaces". 

We invite you to read the abstract and take part in the colloquia.

Practical information

Date: 25 October 2017

Location: Campus Limpertsberg

Time: 4:00 pm 

Abstract

As a survival mechanism, bacteria tend to adhere to surfaces in many environments leading to severe health and economic problems. Indeed, bacteria and the resulting biofilm formation are known to induce implant-associated infections, accelerate corrosion of metal surfaces and reduce operating efficiency of industrial equipment. Accordingly, various antibacterial coatings have been developed based on the immobilization or release of bactericidal substances such as metal nanoparticles, antibiotics, quaternary ammonium or other cationic compounds.

Despite encouraging results, these strategies suffer from their limited efficiency and toxicity as well as a role in the emergence of multi-resisting pathogens. Natural antimicrobial biomolecules are promising alternative agents because of the wide spectrum of activity, high efficiency at very low concentrations and low propensity for developing resistance. Hence, a new generation of antibacterial coatings has recently emerged based on the biomolecule immobilization onto surfaces.

However, material surfaces often lack the presence of adequate reactive sites for biomolecule bio conjugations. Among various existing technique for coating of a material surface with a specifically functionalized thin film, Plasma Enhanced Chemical V apor deposition methods are widely investigated. In particular, Atmospheric Pressure Diel electric Barrier Discharges (AP-DBD) processes are appreciated on an industrial level. AP-DBDs are solvent-free, fast, on-line processes, which can be easily integrated into existing industrial process lines.

In this presentation, the research efforts to introduce atmospheric-pressure plasma deposited thin films for biomolecule covalent immobilization to reduce sustainably bacterial attachment and proliferation on metallic or biomedical devices are displayed.

Firstly, the basic concepts related to plasma and plasma polymerization are presented. Then, it is shown how by a careful selection of precursors and deposition conditions, the chemistry and morphology of functional thin films can be tuned. For this purpose, a brief description of main analytical techniques for bulk and thin films characterization is given. Finally, the biomolecule immobilization conditions onto functionalized surfaces as well as the evaluation of the modified biological surface properties is presented. All the research activities presented have been developed at LIST in the Reactive Polymer and Thin Film Processing group in the framework of European projects.