{"id":1631613,"date":"2022-09-03T07:02:59","date_gmt":"2022-09-03T11:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1631613"},"modified":"2022-09-03T07:03:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-03T11:03:27","slug":"coating-keeps-killing-viruses-and-bacteria-for-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/coating-keeps-killing-viruses-and-bacteria-for-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Coating Keeps Killing Viruses and Bacteria for Months"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcoating-keeps-killing-viruses-and-bacteria-for-months%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1631613&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p><em>There may soon be a new weapon in our centuries-old battle against germs: the first durable coating that can quickly kill bacteria and viruses and keep on killing them for months at a time.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As reported in the journal\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.matt.2022.08.018\">Matter<\/a>, the coating proved deadly to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19),\u00a0E. coli,\u00a0MRSA,\u00a0and a variety of other pathogens. It killed 99.9% of microbes even after months of repeated cleaning, abrasion, and other punishment on real-world surfaces like keyboards, cell phone screens, and chicken-slathered cutting boards.<\/p>\n<p>The coating could be a game changer in traditionally\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/hospitals-scrubs-pathogens-1285052-2\/\">germ-laden public spaces<\/a>\u00a0like airports and hospitals, says co-corresponding author Anish Tuteja, a professor of material science and engineering at the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve never had a good way to keep constantly-touched surfaces like airport touch screens clean,\u201d he says. \u201cDisinfectant cleaners can kill germs in only a minute or two but they dissipate quickly and leave surfaces vulnerable to reinfection.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do have long-lasting antibacterial surfaces based on metals like copper and zinc, but they take hours to kill bacteria. This coating offers the best of both worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The coating, which is clear and can be brushed or sprayed on, gets its durability and germ-killing power by combining tried-and-true ingredients in a new way. It uses antimicrobial molecules derived from tea tree oil and cinnamon oil, both used for centuries as safe and effective germ killers that work in under two minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The coating\u2019s durability comes from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/flash-joule-trucks-plastic-graphene-2752472-2\/\">polyurethane<\/a>, a tough, varnish-like sealer that\u2019s commonly used on surfaces like floors and furniture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe antimicrobials we tested are classified as \u2018generally regarded as safe\u2019 by the FDA, and some have even been approved as food additives,\u201d Tuteja says. \u201cPolyurethane is a safe and very commonly used coating. But we did do toxicity testing just to be sure, and we found that our particular combination of ingredients is even safer than many of today\u2019s antimicrobials.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The results of the study\u2019s durability tests suggest that the coating could keep killing germs for six months or longer before its oil begins to evaporate and reduce its disinfectant power. But even then, Tuteja says it can be recharged by wiping it with fresh oil; the new oil is reabsorbed by the surface, starting the cycle again.<\/p>\n<p>The key challenge was to combine the oil and polyurethane in a way that let the oil molecules do their germ-killing work while preventing them from evaporating quickly.<\/p>\n<p>The research team\u2014including associate professor of materials science and engineering and biomedical engineering Geeta Mehta, a co-corresponding author; and materials science and engineering PhD students Abhishek Dhyani and Taylor Repetto, co-first authors\u2014found a possible solution in cross-linking, a well-known process that uses heating to link materials together at the molecular level. The smaller oil molecules readily combined with the cross-linking polymer molecules, forming a stable matrix.<\/p>\n<p>But to kill germs, the oil molecules need to penetrate their cell walls, which they can\u2019t do if they\u2019re tightly tethered into the matrix. Eventually, they found a middle ground by partially cross-linking the materials\u2014enough to keep some of the oil molecules free to do their work, but keeping others bound tightly to the polyurethane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was some trial and error, but we eventually found that cross-linking only some of the oil did what we needed,\u201d Tuteja says. \u201cThe free oil tends to stay with the oil that\u2019s cross-linked into the matrix, helping the coating last longer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once the basic recipe was set, the researchers set about finding a combination of active ingredients that would kill a wide variety of the germs that trouble humans most.<\/p>\n<p>To identify a representative sample of microbes, they worked with co-corresponding authors Christiane E. Wobus, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology, and J. Scott VanEpps, an associate professor of emergency medicine, both at the University of Michigan Medical School. Ultimately, they found a precise balance of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/for-germ-fighting-power-the-eyes-have-it\/\">antimicrobial molecules<\/a>\u00a0that were effective, safe, and inexpensive.<\/p>\n<p>Tuteja emphasizes that they\u2019re not locked into one specific formula; the team\u2019s understanding of individual ingredients\u2019 properties enables them to tweak the formula for specific applications or rebalance the antimicrobial agents to kill specific germs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s never our goal just to develop a one-off coating, but instead to develop a library of underlying material properties to draw from,\u201d Tuteja says. \u201cIf we can understand those properties, then we can develop coatings to meet the needs of specific applications.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tuteja estimates that the technology could be commercially available within a year; it has been licensed to Hygratek, a spinoff company that Tuteja founded with assistance from University of Michigan Innovation Partnerships.<\/p>\n<p>The Office of Naval Research funded the work, with additional support from the University of Michigan, Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie Actions, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense, with raw materials provided by Covestro.<\/p>\n<p>The University of Michigan has applied for a patent based on this technology. Tuteja and the University of Michigan have a financial interest in Hygratek.<\/p>\n<p><i>This\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.futurity.org\/silica-rice-hulls-1080032-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">article<\/a>\u00a0was originally\u00a0published by the\u00a0<\/i><em><a href=\"http:\/\/ns.umich.edu\/new\/releases\/23378-turning-rice-farming-waste-to-useful-silica-compounds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">University of Michigan<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><span class=\"s1\"><i>Republished via\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.futurity.org\/mars-phobos-rings-1058872\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\"><i>Futurity.org<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>\u00a0under\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\"><i>Creative Commons License 4.0<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There may soon be a new weapon in our centuries-old battle against germs: the first durable coating that can quickly kill bacteria and viruses and keep on killing them for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1631616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1631613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1631613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1631616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1631613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1631613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1631613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}