Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific
Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institution under the Department of Science
and Technology, has developed a one-step curable anti-microbial coating which,
when coated on different surfaces such as textile, plastic and so on could kill
a range of virus types including COVID 19.
This covalent coating, the research paper about
which has been accepted in the journal Applied Material and Interfaces, has
been found to completely kill influenza virus as well as resistant pathogenic
bacteria and fungi, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and fluconazole-resistant C. albicans spp.
The recent outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has created
an unprecedented stir in the global public health. Corona virus, like
influenza, is also an enveloped virus. Therefore it is anticipated that the
coating may inactivate SARS-CoV-2 upon contact and can help prevent
contamination if coated on various surfaces.
“Till date, to the best of our knowledge, there
is no covalent coating strategy which can kill all viruses, bacteria and
fungi,” said the researchers. The coating can be fabricated on a variety of
surfaces, and its ease and robustness eliminate the necessity of skilled
personnel for procurement of the coating.
The molecules developed have an ability to
chemically cross-link with different surfaces upon UV irradiation. Upon the
formation of the coating, it has been shown to permeabilize the membranes of
pathogens (i.e. bacteria) leading to their inactivation.
Microbial attachment and their colony formation
on different surfaces play a major role in the transmission of deadly
infections in the community as well as healthcare settings. Keeping this in
mind, an easy approach was developed to coat a wide range of substrates used in
daily life as well as in clinical settings.
Molecules were designed, keeping in mind their
optimum solubility in a wide range of solvents (such as water, ethanol,
chloroform etc.) and a cost-effective three to four-step synthetic strategy
with easy purification and high yield. The molecules were then immobilized on
different substrates such as cotton, polyurethane, polypropylene, polystyrene,
etc., which construct majority of the objects we see around us. In brief, for
coating on cotton, the sheets were dipped in a water solution of the compounds
whereas, for other cases, ethanolic substrates were drop-casted on them followed
by UV irradiation. After coating, the surfaces were evaluated for their
antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activity.
Considering the current corona virus outbreak,
if shown to be active, the molecule can be synthesized in large scale through a
CRO (Contract Research Organization) and can be coated on various personal
protective tools such as masks, gloves, gowns, etc. in collaboration with the
private organizations. The molecules can also be coated on other medical
devices and tools to avoid hospital-acquired or nosocomial infections.
KGS/(DST)
(Release ID :200895)
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