%0 Journal Article
%T Synthesis of Ag-Doped Tetrahedral Amorphous Carbon Coatings and Their Antibiofilm Efficacy for Medical Implant Application.
%A MubarakAli D
%A Kim SM
%A Ko YB
%A Kim JW
%A Jang YJ
%A Lee SY
%J Nanomaterials (Basel)
%V 14
%N 12
%D 2024 Jun 12
%M 38921893
%F 5.719
%R 10.3390/nano14121017
%X Tetrahedral amorphous carbon (taC) is a hydrogen-free carbon with extensive properties such as hardness, optical transparency, and chemical inertness. taC coatings have attracted much attention in recent times, as have coatings doped with a noble metal. A known antimicrobial metal agent, silver (Ag), has been used as a dopant in taC, with different Ag concentrations on the Ti64 coupons using a hybrid filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) and magnetron sputtering system. The physiochemical properties of the coated surface were investigated using spectroscopic and electron microscopy techniques. A doping effect of Ag-taC on biofilm formation was investigated and found to have a significant effect on the bacterial-biofilm-forming bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa depending on the concentration of Ag. Further, the effect of coated and uncoated Ag-taC films on a pathogenic bacterium was examined using SEM. The result revealed that the Ag-taC coatings inhibited the biofilm formation of S. aureus. Therefore, this study demonstrated the possible use of Ag-taC coatings against biofilm-related complications on medical devices and infections from pathogenic bacteria.