| dc.description.abstract | TaON, TaON-Ag, TaON-(Ag,Cu) were prepared by reactive co-sputtering of Ta, Ag and Cu in O2, N2, and Ar plasma. The deposition temperature was 300 °C. The Ag contents in TaON-Ag were 2 at.%, 5 at.%, 7 at.%, 10 at.% and the Ag-Cu contents in TaON-(Ag,Cu) were 1.5 at.% - 1.5 at.%, 2.5 at.% - 2.5 at.%, 5 at.% - 5 at.%, 3 at.% - 7 at.%, 7 at.% - 3 at.% respectively. After deposition, all the samples were annealed at 800 °C for 5 minutes by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). These films were characterized by a variety of techniques including X-ray diffraction, FESEM (field emission scanning electron microscopy), and TEM (transmission electron microscopy). Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) was used to analyze dissolved ion concentrations when the thin films were immersed in the buffer solution. The antibacterial tests were carried out with E-coli. The results show that the un-doped TaON could be used as a visible-light antibacterial photo-catalyst. TaON–Ag films, with or without visible light irradiation, have a significantly improvement in antibacterial behavior. Furthermore, it is found that co-deposition of Ag and Cu into TaON films could lead to a triple bactericidal effect, due to the antibacterial effects of Ag, Cu, and TaON.
At final, antibacterial kinetics was used to analyze the bactericidal effects of these TaON thin films doped with Ag and Ag-Cu with various concentrations. The results confirm that TaON-( Ag, Cu) films have a triple effect on antibacterial efficiency. To further understand the synergistic effect of Ag and Cu ions on bactericidal behaviors, kinetic analyses were also carried out on Ag and/or Cu ions- containing buffer solution, the solution that contained both ions showed much improved antibacterial behaviors, compared with that contained only Ag or Cu ions | en_US |