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Surface Modifications Caused by Cold Atmospheric Plasma Sterilization Treatment

Inactivation of microorganisms on sensitive surfaces by cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is one major application in the field of plasma medicine because it provides a simple and effective way to sterilize heat-sensitive materials. Therefore, one has to know whether plasma treatment affects the treated surfaces, and thus causes long-term surface modifications. In this contribution, the effect of cold atmospheric Surface Micro-Discharge (SMD) plasma on different materials and its sporicidal behavior was investigated. Hence, different material samples (stainless steel, different polymers and glass) were plasma-treated for 16 hours, simulating multiple plasma treatments using an SMD plasma device. Afterwards, the material samples were analyzed using surface analysis methods such as laser microscopy, contact angle measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Furthermore, the device was used to investigate the behavior of Bacillus atrophaeus endospores inoculated on material samples at different treatment times. The interaction results for plasma-treated endospores show, that a log reduction of the spore count between 4.3 and 6.2 can be achieved within 15 min of plasma treatment. Besides, the surface analysis revealed, that there were three different types of reactions the probed materials showed to plasma treatment, ranging from no changes to shifts of the materials' free surface energies and oxidation. As a consequence, it should be taken into account that even though cold atmospheric plasma treatment is a non-thermal method to inactivate microorganisms on heatsensitive materials, it still affects surface properties of the treated materials. Therefore, the focus of future work must be a further classification of plasma-caused material modifications.