{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,7]],"date-time":"2026-04-07T21:00:51Z","timestamp":1775595651351,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,18]],"date-time":"2023-01-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1674000000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"CEMMPRE\u2019s research and development unit project","award":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"]}]},{"name":"CEMMPRE\u2019s research and development unit project","award":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-039784"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-039784"]}]},{"name":"CEMMPRE\u2019s research and development unit project","award":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072607"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072607"]}]},{"name":"CEMMPRE\u2019s research and development unit project","award":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"]}]},{"name":"CEMMPRE\u2019s research and development unit project","award":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Science DiabetICC Footwear","award":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Science DiabetICC Footwear","award":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-039784"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-039784"]}]},{"name":"Science DiabetICC Footwear","award":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072607"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072607"]}]},{"name":"Science DiabetICC Footwear","award":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Science DiabetICC Footwear","award":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"]}]},{"name":"COMPETE 2020 Portuguese and European Union initiative","award":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"]}]},{"name":"COMPETE 2020 Portuguese and European Union initiative","award":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-039784"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-039784"]}]},{"name":"COMPETE 2020 Portuguese and European Union initiative","award":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072607"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072607"]}]},{"name":"COMPETE 2020 Portuguese and European Union initiative","award":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"]}]},{"name":"COMPETE 2020 Portuguese and European Union initiative","award":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"]}]},{"name":"R&amp;D and the production of logos for the automotive industry","award":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"]}]},{"name":"R&amp;D and the production of logos for the automotive industry","award":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-039784"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-039784"]}]},{"name":"R&amp;D and the production of logos for the automotive industry","award":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072607"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072607"]}]},{"name":"R&amp;D and the production of logos for the automotive industry","award":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"]}]},{"name":"R&amp;D and the production of logos for the automotive industry","award":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of Strategic Funding","award":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of Strategic Funding","award":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-039784"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-039784"]}]},{"name":"Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of Strategic Funding","award":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072607"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072607"]}]},{"name":"Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of Strategic Funding","award":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00285\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of Strategic Funding","award":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antibiotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms) can survive up to a few days on surfaces and can propagate through surfaces in high percentages, and thus, these surfaces turn into a primary source of pathogen transmission. To prevent and mitigate pathogen transmission, antimicrobial surfaces seem to be a promising option that can be prepared by using resilient, mass-produced polymers with partly embedded antimicrobial nanoparticles (NPs) with controlled size. In the present study, a 6 nm thick Ag nanolayer was sputter deposited on polycarbonate (PC) substrate and then thermally annealed, in a first step at 120 \u00b0C (temperature below Tg) for two hours, for promoting NP diffusion and growth, and in a second step at 180 \u00b0C (temperature above Tg) for 22 h, for promoting thermal embedding of the NPs into the polymer surface. The variation in the height of NPs on the polymer surface with thermal annealing confirms the embedding of NPs. It was shown that the incorporation of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) had a great impact on the antibacterial capacity, as the Ag NP-embedded polymer surface presented an inhibition effect on the growth of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The tested surface-engineering process of incorporating antimicrobial Ag NPs in a polymer surface is both cost-effective and highly scalable.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics12020207","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,19]],"date-time":"2023-01-19T02:51:37Z","timestamp":1674096697000},"page":"207","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Antimicrobial Polymeric Surfaces Using Embedded Silver Nanoparticles"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Pooja","family":"Sharma","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"CEMMPRE, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"CFUM-UP, Centro de F\u00edsica das Universidades do Minho e do Porto, University of Minho, Campus of Azur\u00e9m, 4800-058 Guimaraes, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9646-6769","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luisa","family":"Fialho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"i3S\u2014Instituto de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o e Inova\u00e7\u00e3o em Sa\u00fade, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen, 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"INEB\u2014Instituto de Engenharia Biom\u00e9dica, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen, 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9532-0597","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nuno Miguel","family":"Figueiredo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CEMMPRE, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9138-4243","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ricardo","family":"Serra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CEMMPRE, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8251-5099","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Albano","family":"Cavaleiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CEMMPRE, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"IPN\u2014LED&MAT, Instituto Pedro Nunes, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3643-4973","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sandra","family":"Carvalho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CEMMPRE, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"CFUM-UP, Centro de F\u00edsica das Universidades do Minho e do Porto, University of Minho, Campus of Azur\u00e9m, 4800-058 Guimaraes, Portugal"},{"name":"IPN\u2014LED&MAT, Instituto Pedro Nunes, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2022, December 24). 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