Browsing by Author "Avramova I.A."

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    Early stage anti-bioadhesion behavior of superhydrophobic soot based coatings towards Pseudomonas putida
    (2018-12-15) Esmeryan K.D.; Avramova I.A.; Castano C.E.; Ivanova I.A.; Mohammadi R.; Radeva E.I.; Stoyanova D.S.; Vladkova T.G.
    Biofilm development, associated with the adherence of microbial cells on various solid substrates, has an adverse economic impact and is the main reason for the spreading of microbial infections. The present article reports novel findings about the anti-bioadhesion performance of four types of superhydrophobic soot coatings, deposited via combustion flame synthesis and further functionalized using plasma polymerization and/or fluorination, towards a Gram-negative bacterial strain Pseudomonas putida. The real-time sensor response of four representative soot coated 5 MHz quartz crystal microbalances, along with scanning electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy and contact angle measurements on the model soot surfaces, reveal reversible and irreversible bioadhesion on the soot during the first hour of cell colonization. Each adhesion mode is related to the presence and distribution of morphological features within the size of bacteria, but the prolonged 7-day exposure to the bacterial suspensions unifies the number of attached cells (only 3 times difference from coating-to-coating). Nevertheless, the soot coatings inhibit the proliferation of Pseudomonas species and reduce their quantity by two orders of magnitude compared to an uncoated glass slide, which demonstrates the importance of surface characteristics for precise control of the initial cell attachment and development of multifunctional soot coatings with anti-bioadhesion properties.
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    Fucoidan-Containing, Low-Adhesive Siloxane Coatings for Medical Applications: Inhibition of Bacterial Growth and Biofilm Development
    (2023-05-01) Vladkova T.G.; Staneva A.D.; Avramova I.A.; Ivanova I.A.; Gospodinova D.N.
    The deposition of low-adhesive siloxane coatings is a current trend for the non-toxic control of bacterial growth and biofilm formation. Total elimination of biofilm formation has not been reported so far. The aim of this investigation was to study the ability of a non-toxic, natural, biologically active substance, such as fucoidan, to inhibit bacterial growth on similar medical coatings. The fucoidan amount was varied, and its impact on the bioadhesion-influencing surface characteristics, as well as on bacterial cell growth, was investigated. The inclusion of up to 3–4 wt.% brown algae-derived fucoidan in the coatings increases their inhibitory effect, more significantly on the Gram-positive bacterium S. aureus than on the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli. The biological activity of the studied siloxane coatings was ascribed to the formation of a low-adhesive, biologically active surface top layer consisting of siloxane oil and dispersed water-soluble fucoidan particles. This is the first report on the antibacterial activity of fucoidan-containing medical siloxane coatings. The experimental results give reason to expect that relevantly selected, natural biologically active substances can be efficient in the non-toxic control of bacterial growth on medical devices and, as a result, medical device-associated infections.
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    Ozone decomposition on ZnO catalysts obtained from different precursors
    (2014-12-01) Milenova K.I.; Nikolov P.M.; Kasabova N.A.; Avramova I.A.
    Kinetic investigations for ozone conversion on three different series of zinc oxide catalysts, containing pure ZnO and doped with Mn or Cu one with dopant content less than 1 wt.% were carried out. The different samples were obtained from carbonate, nitrate and acetate precursors. The as prepared catalysts were characterized by AAS, XRD, IR, EPR and BET methods. The mean size of the crystallites determined by XRD data is in the range 27÷68 nm. The presence of Mn2+ and Cu2+ ions into the ZnO matrix was established by EPR. The ozone decomposition was investigated for 30÷75°C temperature range. The zinc carbonate precursor samples show highest activity, while the nitrate precursor ones show lowest activity toward reaction decomposition of ozone in the whole temperature range. At 75°C two of the catalyst, obtained from carbonate precursor - ZnO and CuZnO show 100% conversion.