New process makes textiles antimicrobial
Published: Tuesday, Nov 28th 2023, 08:00
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A new process developed by Swiss researchers makes textiles germicidal. This could be used to coat curtains in hospitals in the future.
The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) announced on Tuesday that this could break chains of infection in which, for example, multi-resistant bacteria or viral pathogens settle on hospital curtains and can then be passed on by humans.
In the new coating process, a disinfectant containing benzalkonium chloride is evenly applied to the hospital curtains. After the Empa researchers, together with experts from the chemical company BASF, Spiez Laboratory and the Technical University of Berlin, had optimized the concentration, exposure time, processing pressure and drying, the coating adhered stably to the textiles.
Against bacteria and viruses
According to Empa, the coating proved to be effective in laboratory tests. Coated textile samples inhibited the growth of staphylococci and pseudomos bacteria, two typical hospital germs.
The coating was also active against viral pathogens: over 99% of the viruses tested were killed by the coated fabric samples, as the researchers show in a study published in the journal Scientific Reports. The coatings remained effective even after several months of storage.
According to Empa, this allows production in stock. According to the research institute, the new process could also be used to quickly and safely antimicrobially treat other textiles or filters and cleaning utensils in the future, for example in the event of an emerging epidemic.
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