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Porous Antimicrobial Coatings for Killing Microbes within Minutes.
Saeed Behzadinasab1,2,3, Myra D Williams4, Mete Aktuglu1
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|March 15, 2023
Summary
Porous antimicrobial coatings with copper kill bacteria rapidly. This new porous coating technology significantly enhances antimicrobial activity, reducing infection transmission on frequently touched surfaces.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Microbiology
- Surface Chemistry
Background:
- Antimicrobial coatings are crucial for reducing infectious agent transmission via contact.
- Effective coatings must rapidly inactivate microbes between user interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if porous antimicrobial coatings enhance microorganism inactivation rates compared to planar coatings.
- To investigate the efficacy of copper-based antimicrobial coatings within porous scaffolds.
Main Methods:
- Developed a two-level structured coating: a porous scaffold (stainless steel, PMMA) and an antimicrobial layer (copper via electroless deposition with polydopamine adhesion promoter).
- Utilized hydrophilic pores (5-100 μm) for rapid liquid imbibement and microbial contact.
- Quantified bacterial kill rates against *Pseudomonas aeruginosa* for both porous and planar coatings.
Main Results:
- The porous copper coating achieved a 99.84% kill rate of *P. aeruginosa* within 3 minutes (27s half-life).
- A planar coating with the same material killed 79.65% in the same timeframe.
- The porous PMMA scaffold coating demonstrated a >99.99% kill rate within 5 minutes (21s half-life).
Conclusions:
- Porous antimicrobial coatings significantly increase the rate of microbial inactivation compared to planar coatings.
- The rapid killing efficacy of these porous coatings is suitable for preventing infectious agent spread on high-touch objects.
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