The work carried out in this thesis investigates the application of Metal-polymer nanocomposites in order to find a possible solution of the recurring issue of bacterial infection. For this thesis, Copper clusters are produced using the magnetron sputtering cluster apparatus (MaSCA) and then are deposited onto quartz and silicon substrates coated by a Polystyrene (PS) film of desired thickness. Titania nanoparticles are prepared using the gas aggregation cluster source (GAS) in Prague and are also deposited unto quartz and silicon substrates coated by a thin film of PS. Thermal annealing, after cluster deposition, is used to control the immersion depth of clusters into the PS films. Furthermore these prepared samples are then characterized using Atomic Force microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and optical measurements before the samples are subjected to antimicrobial tests.
The second part of the project then focuses on the bactericidal effects of the prepared samples. Herein the techniques used to assess the antimicrobial effects include Colony Forming Units (CFU) plate counting, as well as Fluorescence microscopy using molecular probes to observe morphological damage to the bacterial cells. As will be discussed later, the efficiency of the prepared substrates depends on the different bactericidal mechanism. Also investigated is the degree to which the substrates can be reused in order to give an insight to the killing efficiency over time.