ArticleBMC microbiology2025
Antibacterial properties of novel transparent copper films: a potential new tool to reduce healthcare-associated infections in hospitals and healthcare facilities.
Article in BMC microbiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
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7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHealthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are serious public health issues, and environmental surfaces contaminated with microorganisms have been reported to play an important role in their occurrence. We focused on copper, which is known to have excellent antimicrobial activity, as a measure to prevent contamination of environmental surfaces. In hospital environments, copper has been used on handrails and doorknobs. However, its use has been limited because of its opaque nature. Therefore, we developed a thin, highly transparent copper film via the sputtering method. This study examines the antimicrobial activity of this transparent film to expand the potential applications of copper to commonly used surfaces in healthcare settings.
methodsPolyethylene terephthalate film was coated with a copper layer of four different thicknesses via the sputtering method. The antimicrobial activity of the copper film was evaluated according to the ISO22196:2011 standards. The antimicrobial activity and the change in the viable bacteria count with contact time between the test bacteria and the copper film surface were evaluated.
resultsFor all copper layer thicknesses, the bacterial count decreased exponentially after contact with the copper film. For Escherichia coli, the count decreased 100-fold after 10 min, and no viable bacteria were observed within 30 min. For Staphylococcus aureus, the count decreased 100-fold after 20 min, and no viable bacteria were observed within 50 min. In these two bacterial species, the antibacterial activity did not differ according to the thickness of the copper layer.
conclusionAll copper films showed sufficient antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus regardless of the copper layer thickness. The thinnest 5 nm copper film with high transparency was considered most useful for medical applications because of its visibility. Further study is needed to determine whether this transparent copper film reduces microbial contamination on environmental surfaces and contributes to reducing HAIs in hospitals and healthcare facilities.
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