SBIR Phase I: Highly Potent Nanozeolite-based Silver Antimicrobials

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力正在为纺织品、涂料、聚合物以及伤口护理和绷带提供高效的抗菌解决方案。抗药性细菌大量繁殖，不产生抗药性的抗菌素具有重大的社会意义。银基抗菌剂正在满足这一需求，并被用于各种医疗、消费和食品相关应用中。银是一种广谱抗菌剂，对革兰氏阳性和革兰氏阴性细菌(包括耐甲氧西林和万古霉素的细菌)以及真菌、病毒和生物被膜有效。这导致医疗保健、消费和食品行业使用银质抗菌产品。全球银基粉末抗菌涂料市场目前价值9.1亿美元，预计到2020年将以13.1%的复合年增长率(CAGR)增长。然而，人们越来越担心白银的释放及其对环境的影响。开发使用最低银量的高效能银产品可以显著扩大其用途。这个多功能抗菌平台的好处包括：将效力提高1000倍，降低成本，隐蔽性和与配方的兼容性。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将开发和测试一种高度有效的银基抗菌产品。较高的活性是由于控制了固定在~30 nm纳米沸石(NZ)表面的无配体AgNP(1-3 nm)的大小，以及沸石中Ag+的快速释放。AgNP-NZ对革兰氏阴性杆菌和耐药的耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌的杀菌活性均有显著提高。通过对新西兰载体进行修饰以引入多种功能，进一步增强了效力：通过新西兰离子交换的锌离子增强了抗菌活性，以及对新西兰进行表面修饰以增强与细菌的相互作用，包括在细菌内的渗透。在SBIR一期项目结束时，该产品将通过(1)证明合成过程的可扩展性，使产品开发过程中有足够的产品供应，(2)根据抗菌性能优化抗菌材料的合成过程，包括Ag+和Zn2+的负载和表面修饰，为进一步的商业化和市场营销做好准备；(3)获得第三方对优化样品的测试报告，作为营销的客观证据；(4)研究产品对哺乳动物细胞的毒性，以解决毒性问题。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is providing a high potent antimicrobial solution for textiles, coatings, polymers, and wound care and bandages. There is considerable proliferation of antibiotic resistant bacteria, and, antimicrobials that do not develop resistance is of significant societal interest. Silver-based antimicrobials are filling this need, and are being used in a variety of medical, consumer and food-related applications. Silver is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial, effective against gram positive, gram negative bacteria (including methicillin-and vancomycin resistant bacteria) as well as fungi, viruses, and biofilms. This has led health care, consumer and food industries to use silver antimicrobial products. The global market for silver-based powder antimicrobial coatings is currently valued at $910 million and expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.1% until 2020. Concerns however, are increasing about the release of silver and the resulting influence on the environment. Development of high potency silver products using the minimum amount of silver can significantly broaden its use. The benefits of this versatile antimicrobial platform include: 1000-fold increased potency, decreased cost, invisibility and compatibility with formulations.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop and test a highly potent silver-based antimicrobial product. Higher potency is due to control of size of ligand-free AgNP (1-3 nm) anchored to the surface of ~30 nm nanozeolite (NZ), and fast release of Ag+ within the zeolite. The bactericidal activity of AgNP-NZ has been examined with E. coli (gram negative) and antibiotic resistant MRSA (gram positive), with significant improvement. The potency is further enhanced by modifying the NZ support to introduce multiple features: increased antimicrobial activity via NZ ion-exchanged Zn2+, and surface modification of NZ to enhance interactions with bacteria, including penetration within the bacteria. At the conclusion of this SBIR Phase I project, the product will be ready for further commercialization and marketing by (1) demonstrating the scalability of the synthesis procedure so that there is enough supply of product in the product development process; (2) optimizing synthesis procedure of antimicrobial material according to antimicrobial property, including Ag+ and Zn2+ loading and surface modifications; (3) obtaining third party test reports on optimized samples as objective evidence for marketing and (4) studying the toxicity of the product toward mammalian cells to address toxicity concerns.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.