SBIR Phase I: Antimicrobial Nanocoatings through Grafting of PECVD Films

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在开发一种新的制造工艺，在金属或塑料上沉积含银离子的纳米涂层，以抵抗微生物。利用等离子体增强化学气相沉积(PECVD)工艺将抗菌纳米涂层(AMNC)从气相沉积到各种表面。由于前驱体的低挥发性和离子金属配体的不稳定性，有效地将离子银整合到涂层中仍然是一个困难的工程挑战。拟议的商业上可行的AMNC工艺的开发将包括：1)通过PECVD沉积纳米级薄膜，该薄膜含有可浸出的银离子，由至少两种不同的基质聚合物(有机和无机)和一系列银含量合成。这将通过在PECVD等离子体聚合物上接枝含银有机金属来实现。2)确定这些含银PECVD膜的抗菌效果与结构和组成的函数关系。通过选择合适的反应气体和沉积条件，薄膜的成分、厚度和形貌都是可控制的。一期项目的成功将导致纳米级抗菌涂层的展示，这种涂层已经在大约20种顶级细菌病原体的面板上进行了测试。AMNC比手术刀锋利的边缘更薄，几乎看不见，在解决医院内(医院获得性)感染(NI)等重要问题的同时，提供了比现有厚重抗菌涂料更明显的优势。NIS是卫生保健行业面临的最严重的问题之一。美国疾病控制与预防中心估计，仅在美国，NIS每年就导致超过10万人死亡，随之而来的是每年增加的超过50亿美元的医疗费用。被污染的手被认为是传播NIS的最大原因。将AMNC应用于医院和公立学校等设施中的手接触表面(如门把手、浴室固定装置)可能会带来更大的好处。此外，AMNCs还可以通过改善医疗材料(如留置导管、中线、假体、其他侵入性设备)的微生物和生物被膜抵抗力来改善医疗保健。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project aims to develop a novelmanufacturing process for depositing silver ion-containing nano-scale coatings on metalsor plastics for microbial resistance. The antimicrobial nanocoating (AMNC) is depositedfrom the vapor phase using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD)process onto a variety of surfaces. Effective integration of ionic silver into the coating remains a difficult engineering challenge due to low precursor volatility and ionic metal ligand instability. The proposed development of a commercially viable AMNC process will include: 1)Deposition of nanometer-scale films via PECVD that contain leachable silver ions, synthesized with at least two different matrix polymers (organic and inorganic) and a range of silver content. This will be accomplished via post-deposition grafting of silver containing organometallics onto PECVD plasma polymers. 2) Establishing antimicrobial effectiveness of these silver-containing PECVD films as a function of structure and composition. Film composition, thickness, and morphology are all controllable by suitable choice of reactant gases and deposition conditions. A successful Phase I project will result in the demonstration of a nanometer-scale antimicrobial coating that has been tested on a panel of approximately 20 of the top bacterial pathogens.Commercially AMNCs are not currently available on the market. Thinner than therazor edge of a scalpel and nearly invisible, AMNCs offer distinct advantages overavailable thick antimicrobial paints while addressing important problems such asnosocomial (hospital acquired) infections (NI). NIs represent one of the most severeproblems facing the health care industry. The CDC estimates that NIs cause over100,000 deaths per year in the U.S. alone, with a concomitant increased health care costof over 5 billion dollars per year. Contaminated hands are believed to be the singlegreatest cause of transmitting NIs. Applying AMNCs to hand contact surfaces (e.g. doorknobs, bathroom fixtures) in facilities such as hospitals and public schools could betremendously beneficial. Moreover, AMNCs can enhance healthcare by improvingmicrobial and biofilm resistance of medical materials (e.g. indwelling catheters, centrallines, prostheses, other invasive devices).