Preparations of Silver/Montmorillonite Biocomposite Multilayers and Their Antifungal Activity
by
Simona Liliana Iconaru 1, Andreea Groza 2, George E. Stan 1, Daniela Predoi 1, Sofia Gaiaschi 3, Roxana Trusca 4, Carmen Mariana Chifiriuc 5,6, Luminita Marutescu 5,6, Teddy Tite 1, George A. Stanciu 7, Radu Hristu 7, Liliana Ghegoiu 1, Monica Luminita Badea 8, Claudiu Stefan Turculet 9, Mihai Ganciu 2 and Patrick Chapon 3,*
Simona Liliana Iconaru 1, Andreea Groza 2, George E. Stan 1, Daniela Predoi 1, Sofia Gaiaschi 3, Roxana Trusca 4, Carmen Mariana Chifiriuc 5,6, Luminita Marutescu 5,6, Teddy Tite 1, George A. Stanciu 7, Radu Hristu 7, Liliana Ghegoiu 1, Monica Luminita Badea 8, Claudiu Stefan Turculet 9, Mihai Ganciu 2 and Patrick Chapon 3,*
1
Multifunctional Materials and Structures Laboratory, National Institute of Materials Physics, 077125 Magurele, Romania
2
Low Temperature Plasma Laboratory, National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 409 Atomistilor Street, P.O. Box MG 36, 077125 Magurele, Romania
3
HORIBA Jobin Yvon S.A.S., 6-18 Rue du Canal, CEDEX 91165 Longjumeau, France
4
National Centre for Micro and Nanomaterials, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
5
Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 1–3 Portocalelor Lane, 77206 Bucharest, Romania
6
Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences Section, Research Institute of the University of Bucharest (ICUB), 91-95 Splaiul Independentei, 050095 Bucharest, Romania
7
Center for Microscopy-Microanalysis and Information Processing, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 313 Splaiul Independentei, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
8
Faculty of Horticulture, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 59 Marasti, 011464 Bucharest, Romania
9
Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Eroii Sanitari, Sector 5, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Coatings 2019, 9(12), 817; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings9120817
Received: 16 October 2019 / Revised: 20 November 2019 / Accepted: 28 November 2019 / Published: 2 December 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomedical Applications of Functional Nanoparticles)
In this study, the results about the influence of the surface morphology of layers based on montmorillonite (MMT) and silver (Ag) on antimicrobial properties are reported. The coating depositions were performed in the plasma of a radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering discharge. The studied layers were single montmorillonite layers (MMT) and silver/montmorillonite multilayers (MMT-Ag) obtained by magnetron sputtering technique with a different surface thickness. The resultant MMT-Ag biocomposite multilayers exhibited a uniform distribution of constituent elements and enhanced antimicrobial properties against fungal biofilm development. Glow-discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES) analysis revealed the formation of MMT-Ag biocomposite multilayers following the deposit of a silver layer for an MMT layer that was initially deposited on a Si substrate. The surface morphology and thickness evaluation of deposited biocomposite layers were performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A qualitative analysis of the chemical composition of thin layers was performed and the elements O, Ag, Mg, Fe, Al, and Si were identified in the MMT-Ag biocomposite multilayers. The in vitro antifungal assay proved that the inhibitory effect against the growth of Candida albicans ATCC 101231 CFU was more emphasized in the case of MMT-Ag biocomposite multilayers that in the case of the MMT layer. Cytotoxicity studies performed on HeLa cells showed that the tested layers did not show significant toxicity at the time intervals during which the assay was performed. On the other hand, it was observed that the MMT layers exhibited slightly higher biocompatible properties than the MMT-Ag composite layers.
Keywords:
montmorillonite; silver; multilayers; antimicrobial activity; fungal biofilm
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Iconaru, S.L.; Groza, A.; Stan, G.E.; Predoi, D.; Gaiaschi, S.; Trusca, R.; Chifiriuc, C.M.; Marutescu, L.; Tite, T.; Stanciu, G.A.; Hristu, R.; Ghegoiu, L.; Badea, M.L.; Turculet, C.S.; Ganciu, M.; Chapon, P. Preparations of Silver/Montmorillonite Biocomposite Multilayers and Their Antifungal Activity. Coatings 2019, 9, 817.
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