Click here to view fulltext PDF

Permanent link:
https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/pram/070/05/0935-0948

Polystyrene; air plasma; living microorganisms; surface characterization.

Polystyrene (PS) films are used in packaging and biomedical applications because of their transparency and good environmental properties. The present investigation is centered on the antifungal and antibacterial activities involved in the film surface. Subsequently, microbial formations were immobilized on the modified PS films. Living microorganisms such as bacteria and yeast were used. Untreated PS films show very fast rate of growth of bacteria within few hours. The study involves developments of polymer surfaces with bacterial growth and further studies after giving antibacterial treatment such as plasma treatment. Major emphasis has been given to study the effect of various parameters which can affect the performance of the improved material. Films were prepared by two methods: plasma treatment under vacuum and under ongoing He-Ne laser source. The parameters such as (1) surface area by contact angle measurements, (2) quality of material before and after treatment by SEM and FTIR spectra and (3) material characterization by UV-vis spectra were studied. It was observed that plasma treatment of

S M Pawde¹ Sanmesh S Parab¹

1. Department of Physics, University Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga, Mumbai 400 019, India

Published

May 2008

Manuscript received

9 August 2007

Manuscript revised

24 December 2007

Accepted

22 January 2008