Photoinduced curcumin derivative-coatings with antibacterial properties

Abstract

The development of new antibacterial coating (against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) with the use of a natural dye (curcumin) and epoxidized soybean oil, according to a photochemistry process has been investigated. Curcumin has been used both as a photosensitizer and an antibacterial agent under visible light illumination. The photoinduced coatings show good adherence properties on an inox substrate and a high thermal stability to 375 °C. Under visible light activation, singlet oxygen (¹O₂) could be generated from the curcumin derivative-coatings, thus inhibiting by 99% and 95% the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively, even after 48 h of incubation.