Permanent, Antimicrobial Surface Modifications
- Detailed Technology Description
- Application(Product)Methodsand compositions to modify virtually any surface rendering it withantimicrobial characteristics ProblemsAddressed (benefits/advantages)Microbial contamination is one of the most serious concerns inseveral areas of life such as textiles, food packaging, processing and storage,water purification, medical devices, drugs and dental surgery equip-ment.Recently antimicrobial agents have gained more interested from both academicand industrial points of view because of their potential to provide safetybenefits to many mate-rials. Currently, antimicrobials are presented as washesand as blends with other materials. These forms do not warrant permanent and/oreconomically viable solutions for many appli-cations. A few literature reportsconcerning the preparation of antimicrobial surfaces via the covalent couplingof poly quaternary ammonium (PQA) compounds to a variety of surfaces has beendemonstrated. The covalent attachment of biocidal polymers on common and inertplastic surfaces however, is much more challenging due to the lack of reactivefunctional groups.
- *Abstract
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TechnologySummary
Dr. Locklin’s group at UGA has developedhighly efficient methods and inexpensive compositions for the permanentattachment of antimicrobial films onto any surface. This highly effectiveantimicrobial reach-es 99.9+% biocidal effect (after 1-5 minutes) against amultitude of microorganisms when the antimicrobial layer is around 50 nm to 70nm in thickness. The antimicrobial layer binds covalently—without theintervention of noxious chemicals—to the surface, render-ing it with permanentantimicrobial capabilities demonstrated against Gram positive and negativebacteria, fungi, micro-algae among others. Surface attachment is promoted byambient light, which enables implementation of this technology in nearly allsettings, from home to manufacturing plants; on any item, from yarns andtextiles to food packaging and for mul-tiple applications such as food safety,seed protection, dental coatings, and medical equipment steriliza-tion, to namea few. Attachment and efficacy of modified surfaces has been studied on glass,metals, fibers, polymeric materials, fishery cages, among others. Applicationonto textiles remained effective after 100 hot laundry cycles.
Advantages and Some PotentialApplications
Easy and inexpensive to manufacture
Easy and safe to apply: application does not involve use ofnoxious chemicals or specialized
equipment or training.
Applicable to virtually any surface, including onto relativelyinert polymers such as polyethylene
Very thin layer leads to high antimicrobial activity while notchanging the appearance of the
treated item
Requires less material than other antimicrobials that areblended with polymers
Broad spectrum of activity (bacteria, fungi, algae and airborneviruses)
Potential Applications
Infood processing facilities, food packaging, dental sealants, yarn and textilematerials, medical equip-ment and medical implants, kitchen counters, swimmingpool lining, coating of seeds and tree trunks, fisher-ies, live-stockfacilities, paper products, latex coating and others.
Inventor
Dr.Jason Locklin
TechnologyDevelopment and IP Status
Production in lab scale hasbeen optimized and is scalable. Reactions are scalable. Several types ofmaterials, including polyethylene, have been modified.
Published PCT Applications: WO2013056007; WO 201319917; WO 2010096444; WO 2011139817; WO 2013012666; WO2013012664
- Country/Region
- USA
