Amorphous hydrogenated carbon doped with copper as antifungal protective coating Original Research Article

We report on the fungistatic properties of amorphous hydrogenated carbon doped with copper. It is clearly demonstrated that copper forms clusters with sizes of some nanometers. These clusters are distributed homogeneously over an amorphous carbon matrix. Doped films, in contrast with undoped ones, inhibit fungi growth at the film’s surface. This observed phenomenon is promising for the practical application of amorphous carbon films as a protective media against biodeterioration.