Abstract: A preliminary study was made on the antibacterial mechanism of copper-bearing antibacterial stainless steels against E.coli through experiments of microbiology such as EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) complexing, DNA smearing and AFM (atomic force microscope) observation. It was measured that the antibacterial stainless steels showed excellent antibacterial functions with antibacterial rate to E.coli over 99.99%. The antibacterial rate was weak if the bacteria solution was complexed by EDTA, indicating that the copper ions play a dominant role in the antibacterial effect of the antibacterial stainless steels. The electrophoresis experiment did not show the phenomenon of DNA smearing for E.coli after contacting antibacterial stainless steels, which meant that DNA of E.coli was not obviously damaged. It was observed by AFM that the morphology of E.coli changed a lot after contacting antibacterial stainless steels, such as cell walls being seriously changed and lots of contents in the cells being leaked.

Key words: copper, stainless steel, E.coli, antibacterial mechanism