Antibacterial activity of activated carbon fibers containing copper metal

The polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based activated carbon fibers (ACFs) containing copper metal were electrolytically prepared in introducing the antibacterial activity into ACFs. The antibacterial activity was investigated by dilution test against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus; gram positive and virulence) and Klebsiella pnemoniae (K. pnumoniae; gram negative and avirulence). The micropore and textural properties of the ACFs containing copper metal were characterized by BET, t-plot, and H-K methods. The ACFs showed slight decreases in BET's specific surface area, micropore volume, and total pore volume as copper metal increased. However, the antibacterial activities of the ACFs were strongly increased against S. aureus as well as K. pnumoniae, which could be attributed to the presence of copper metal in Cu/ACFs systems.