Abstract
The present study investigates the antibacterial properties of CuCrO <sub>2</sub> thin film surfaces against Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. Single-phase delafossite type copper-chromium oxide (CuCrO <sub>2</sub> ) thin films were prepared on glass substrate by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering, followed by two-step post-deposition annealing at 400 °C with 5% forming gas and at 600 °C in a nitrogen atmosphere. The structure of the CuCrO <sub>2</sub> thin films was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The transmittance properties were measured by a UV-Vis spectrometer. The ISO 22196 method was utilized to evaluate the colony forming unit (CFU) of E. coli on the CuCrO <sub>2</sub> surface after several hours. The experimental results find the CuCrO <sub>2</sub> surface to exhibit superior antibacterial performance and an optical transparency of >70% in the visible region with a thickness of 100 nm. A novel transparent antibacterial coating has been demonstrated in the present study.