International. Researchers created a new antimicrobial coating material using a common disinfectant and antiseptic that effectively kills bacteria and viruses, including MRSA and Covid-19.
Scientists at the University of Nottingham's School of Pharmacy took chlorhexidine, often used by dentists to treat mouth infections and for pre-surgical cleaning, and used it to coat the polymer, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).
The new study shows that this new material was found to be effective in killing microbes responsible for a variety of infections and diseases. With this, it could be used as an effective antimicrobial coating on a variety of plastic products.
Plastics are widely used in medical settings; from IV bags and implantable devices to hospital beds and toilet seats.
Some microbial species can survive in a hospitable environment despite improved cleaning regimes. This increases the risk that patients will get infections while in the hospital and then need treatment with antibiotics.
These microorganisms can survive and remain infectious on abiotic surfaces, including plastic surfaces, for prolonged periods, sometimes up to several months.
"Since plastic is such a widely used material that we know it can harbor infectious microorganisms, we wanted to investigate a way to use this material to destroy bacteria," said Dr. Felicity de Cogan, assistant professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Biologic Drugs.
"We achieved this by bonding a disinfectant with the polymer to create a new coating material and found that not only does it act very fast, killing bacteria within 30 minutes, but it also doesn't spread to the environment or leach from the surface when touched," Dr. de Cogan continued.
"Making plastic items out of this material could really help address the problem of antibiotic resistance and reduce hospital infections," Dr. de Cogan said.
The researchers used a special imaging technique called time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) to examine the material at the molecular level.
This revealed that the material was antimicrobial and quickly killed microbes and, after 45 minutes, the surfaces were still free of these microbes. It was also effective against SARS-COV-2, and no viable virions were found after 30 minutes. In addition, the surfaces were also effective in killing chlorhexidine-resistant strains of bacteria.
Dr de Cogan explained: "Research has shown that contaminated surfaces, including plastic surfaces, can act as a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes, encouraging the spread of antimicrobial resistance among bacterial species through horizontal gene transfer despite deep cleaning practices."
"It is paramount that new technologies are developed to prevent the spread of pathogenic microorganisms to vulnerable patients and address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. This research offers an effective way to do this and the material could be added to plastic materials during manufacturing, it could also potentially be used as an aerosol," added Dr. de Cogan.
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