Plasma chemical etching for c-Si photovoltaics
    Structuring of TCO layers for TF-Photovoltaics
    Infection control – Process and materials studies
    Application demonstrator for infection control
    Energy storage – Process and materials R&D
    Application demonstrator for energy storage
    Interface technologies for durable adhesion
    Application demonstrator for interface technologies
    Cross-cutting equipment development

Infection control – Process and materials studies

Surface roughness of plasma deposited ODAMO coatings at low (left) and high (right) plasma power
© University of Salford

Goals

• highly active biocidal coatings and cleaning protocols
  
  • min. 5 year activity in application environment
  • targeted viability count of 5 log reduction in 4 hours in laboratory testing and 3 log reduction in the field
• multi-functional coating well beyond current state of the art to act against a wide range of organisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, bacteriophage)
• influence of nano-structure on viability
• link between lab test results and “real application” performance still not clear!
  problem of “standardising” of cleaning operations and its influence on bacterial growth

Coating technologies

• low temperature dielectric barrier discharge (DBD)
• flame assisted (FA-) CVD
• combined DBD and FA-CVD process
• films efficient against all common strains of bacteria in laboratory tests: Ag/SiO₂ and Cu/SiO₂ exceeded the 5 log reduction in 4 hours
• films can coat all metallic and ceramic/glass substrates; coating has very good optical aspect and do not change appearance of the substrate

Durability of coating systems

• washability testing using standard cleaning agent for hard surfaces in hospitals - high durability assessed
• however, link between lab test results and “real application” performance still not clear! problem of “standardising” of cleaning operations and its influence on bacterial growth

Screening tests for biocidal activity

• coatings of SiO₂ with both Ag and CuO: excellent antibacterial activity:
  
  • Ag containing: >5 log reduction of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative test organisms within 4h
  • challenge testing with interfering agents: 1% protein addition greatly reduced the activity
  • copper containing films: slower killing activity than Ag containing films, but less affected by protein
• photocatalytic films comprising Ag and CuO overlaid with TiO₂ showed promising activity even at the reduced light levels in the test method used

Application oriented tests of biocidal activity

• evaluation of biocidal surfaces against pathogens in “real use” situations - hospital pathogens are in some cases more resistant that standard laboratory strains
• no standard tests for antimicrobial activity that replicate in situ use - further development of test methods required