*Article* **Effect of Bacterial Cellulose Plasma Treatment on the Biological Activity of Ag Nanoparticles Deposited Using Magnetron Deposition**

**Alexander Vasil'kov 1,\*, Alexander Budnikov <sup>1</sup> , Tatiana Gromovykh <sup>2</sup> , Marina Pigaleva <sup>3</sup> , Vera Sadykova <sup>4</sup> , Natalia Arkharova <sup>5</sup> and Alexander Naumkin <sup>1</sup>**


**Abstract:** New functional medical materials with antibacterial activity based on biocompatible bacterial cellulose (BC) and Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were obtained. Bacterial cellulose films were prepared by stationary liquid-phase cultivation of the *Gluconacetobacter hansenii* strain GH-1/2008 in Hestrin–Schramm medium with glucose as a carbon source. To functionalize the surface and immobilize Ag NPs deposited by magnetron sputtering, BC films were treated with low-pressure oxygen–nitrogen plasma. The composition and structure of the nanomaterials were studied using transmission (TEM) and scanning (SEM) electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Using electron microscopy, it was shown that on the surface of the fibrils that make up the network of bacterial cellulose, Ag particles are stabilized in the form of aggregates 5–35 nm in size. The XPS C 1s spectra show that after the deposition of Ag NPs, the relative intensities of the C-OH and O-C-O bonds are significantly reduced. This may indicate the destruction of BC oxypyran rings and the oxidation of alcohol groups. In the Ag 3d5/2 spectrum, two states at 368.4 and 369.7 eV with relative intensities of 0.86 and 0.14 are distinguished, which are assigned to Ag<sup>0</sup> state and Ag acetate, respectively. Nanocomposites based on plasma-treated BC and Ag nanoparticles deposited by magnetron sputtering (BCP-Ag) exhibited antimicrobial activity against *Aspergillus niger*, *S. aureus* and *Bacillus subtilis*.

**Keywords:** bacterial cellulose; plasma treatment; magnetron sputtering; silver nanoparticles; antimicrobial activity; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
