Antiviral and Antibacterial Efficacy of Nanocomposite Amorphous Carbon Films with Copper Nanoparticles

Abstract

Copper compound-rich films and coatings are effective against widespread viruses and bacteria. Even though the killing mechanisms are still debated it is agreed that the metal ion, nanoparticle release, and surface effects are of paramount importance in the antiviral and antibacterial efficacy of the surfaces. In this work we have investigated the behaviour of the reactive magnetron sputtered nanocomposite diamond-like carbon thin films with copper nanoparticles (DLC:Cu). The films were etched employing oxygen plasma and/or exposed to ultra-pure water aiming to investigate the differences of the Cu release in the medium and changes in film morphology. The presence of metallic copper and Cu2O phases were confirmed by multiple analytical methods. Pristine films were more effective in the Cu release reaching up to 1.3 mg/L/cm2 concentration. Plasma processing resulted in the oxidation of the films which released less Cu but after exposure to water, their average roughness increased more, up to 5.5 nm. Pristine and O2 plasma processed DLC:Cu films were effective against both model coronavirus and herpesvirus after 1-hour contact time and reached virus reduction up to 2.23 and 1.63 log10, respectively. Pristine DLC:Cu films were more effective than plasma-processed ones against herpesvirus, while less expressed difference was found for coronavirus. The virucidal efficacy over up to 24 h exposures in the aqueous medium was validated. A bactericidal study confirmed that pristine DLC:Cu films were effective against gram-negative E. coli and gram-positive E. faecalis bacteria. After 3 hours 100% antibacterial efficiency (ABE) was obtained for E. coli and 99.97% for E. faecalis. After 8 hours and longer exposures, 100% ABE was reached. The half-life inactivation of viruses was 8.10 - 11.08 minutes and for E. faecalis 15.1 - 72.2 minutes.