Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T14:43:04.738Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Plasma Sterilization: Spore Destruction by Microwave Plasmas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

S. Lerouge ,
A. C. Fozza ,
M. R. Wertheimer ,
R. Marchand ,
M. Tabrizian  and
L'H Yahia
S. Lerouge
Affiliation:
Research Group on Biomechanics and Biomaterials
A. C. Fozza
Affiliation:
Dept. of Engineering Physics and Materials Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique, PO Box 6079, Station «C entre Ville »M, ontreal, Qc, H3C 3A7, Canada
M. R. Wertheimer
Affiliation:
Dept. of Engineering Physics and Materials Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique, PO Box 6079, Station «C entre Ville »M, ontreal, Qc, H3C 3A7, Canada
R. Marchand
Affiliation:
Montreal Heart Institute, 5000 Belanger, Montreal, Qc, HIT 1C8, Canada
M. Tabrizian
Affiliation:
Research Group on Biomechanics and Biomaterials
L'H Yahia
Affiliation:
Research Group on Biomechanics and Biomaterials
Get access

Abstract

Low-pressure plasmas are now being used for sterilization at ambient temperature. In this work, we have studied the possible mechanism of spore destruction by plasma, and compare it with etching of synthetic polymers. Bacillus subtilis spores were inoculated at the bottom of special glass vials and subjected to different plasma gas compositions, all known to etch polymers. The mortality rate of spores was found to vary with gas composition, between less than a 2 log decrease in 8 minutes for a pure oxygen plasma, to a 6 log decrease with 02CF4 mixture. Examination by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that spores were significantly etched after 30 minutes of plasma exposure, but not completely. We speculate about their etch resistance, compared with that of synthetic polymers, on the basis of their morphology and their complex coating structure.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 544: Symposium Y – Plasma Deposition and Treatment of Polymers , 1998 , 33
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. 'Agostino, R. (Ed.), Plasma Deposition, Treatments, and Etching of Polymers, (Academic Press, Boston, 1990)Google Scholar
2. d'Agostino, R., Favia, P., and Fracassi, F. (Eds.), Plasma Processing of Polymers, NATO ASI Series E: Appl. Sci. Vol.346, (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991)Google Scholar
3. Flamm, D.L., Solid State Technol., Sept. 1992, 43Google Scholar
4. Lamontagne, B., Wrobel, A.M., Jalbert, G., and Wertheimer, M.R., J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 20, 844 (1987)Google Scholar
5. Wrobel, A.M., Lamontagne, B., and Wertheimer, M.R., Plasma Chem. and Plasma Process. 8,315(1988)Google Scholar
6. Hollander, A., Klemberg-Sapieha, J.E., and Wertheimer, M.R., J. Polymer Science: Part A: Polym. Chem. 33, 2013 (1995)Google Scholar
7. Fozza, A.C., Roch, J., Klemberg-Sapieha, J.E., Kruse, A., Hollander, A., and Wertheimer, M.R., Nucl. Instrum. and Methods in Phys. Res. B 131, 205 (1997).Google Scholar
8. Hury, S., Vidal, D.R., Desor, F., Pelletier, J., and Lagarde, T.. Letters in Applied Microbiology 26, 417 (1998)Google Scholar
9. Lin., S.M. Interaction of bacterial spores with radicals generated by microwave and lowtemperature radio-frequency discharges, PhD thesis, University of Texas at Arlington (1986)Google Scholar
10. Chau, T.T., Kao, K.C., Blank, G., Madrid, F., Biomaterials 17, 1273 (1996)Google Scholar
11. Dring, G.J., Ellar, D.J., Gould, G.W. (Eds), Fundamental and applied aspects of bacterial spores, (Academic Press, 1985)Google Scholar
12. Boucher, R.M.G., Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry 7, 51 (1985)Google Scholar