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Preparation of Cotton-Zinc Composites by Magnetron Sputtering Metallization and Evaluation of their Antimicrobial Properties and Cytotoxicity.

Marcin Henryk KudzinMałgorzata GiełdowskaPaulina KrólZuzanna Sobańska
Published in: Materials (Basel, Switzerland) (2022)
The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the biological properties of cotton-zinc composites. A coating of zinc (Zn) on a cotton fabric was successfully obtained by a DC magnetron sputtering system using a metallic Zn target (99.9%). The new composite was characterized using scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), UV/Vis transmittance, and atomic absorption spectrometry with flame excitation (FAAS). The composite was tested for microbial activity against colonies of Gram-positive ( Staphylococcus aureus ) and Gram-negative ( Escherichia coli ) bacteria and antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger and Chaetomium globosum fungal mold species as model microorganisms. Cytotoxicity screening of the tested modified material was carried out on BALB/3T3 clone mouse fibroblasts. The SEM/EDS and FAAS tests showed good uniformity of zinc content on a large surface of the composite. The conducted research showed the possibility of using the magnetron sputtering technique as a zero-waste method for producing antimicrobial textile composites.
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