Evaluation of the anti-microbial properties of an activated carbon fibre supporting silver using a dynamic method

Four activated carbon fibres (ACF), impregnated or not with metallic compounds, were tested in a dynamic aqueous system for their anti-microbial abilities. All strains of bacteria and fungi tested were sensitive to the microbicidal activity of an ACF supporting silver. This carbon cloth exhibited strong lethal activity against E. coli, S. cerevisiae and P. pastoris. Cell mortality was clearly shown by ATP measurements, and was obtained after a very short contact time (a few seconds) between microorganisms and the ACF supporting silver. Such anti-microbial effects did not seem to be exclusively linked to the presence of silver. The phenomena probably involved in the microbicidal mechanism are therefore discussed in this paper. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.