e-ISSN 2231-8542
ISSN 1511-3701
Nik Norziehana Che Isa, Yusairie Mohd, Mohammad Hafizudden Mohd Zaki and Sharifah Aminah Syed Mohamad
Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 25, Issue S, April 2017
Keywords: Antibacterial behaviour, biofilm, copper, copper coating, electrodeposition
Published on: 21 Dec 2017
Non antimicrobial touch surface materials such as stainless steel can act as a medium for transmitting microbes, leading to the increase of hospital-acquired infections and antibiotic-resistant microbes. Copper can be used to replace the current non-antimicrobial touch surfaces, however, the high cost of solid copper hampers copper from being the ideal choice. Therefore, stainless steel touch surfaces coated with copper can become the option for a low cost yet effective alternative. In this study, electrodeposition technique was used to coat copper on 304 stainless steel surface using 0.01 M CuSO4 solution, at pH 1. The electrodeposition process was done using chronoamperometry by applying -0.25 V vs. Ag/AgCl for 15 min. Morphological observation revealed that 304 stainless steel surface was uniformly coated with compact and dense copper. EDAX analysis showed the composition of copper of 98.9 wt. %, ranging in diameter from 60-90 nm grain size. Thickness of the coating was approximately 105.8 nm. The antibacterial property of copper coating was analysed by both Gram negative E. coli and Gram positive S. aureus. Results indicated that copper coating has excellent antibacterial behaviour in destroying both bacteria. E. coli was more sensitive to the biocidal action of the copper coating of which 100 % reduction was observed within 5 min of exposure. As for S. aureus, a 100% reduction was achieved only after 10 min of exposure.
ISSN 1511-3701
e-ISSN 2231-8542