Development of Functional Materials for Battling Bacterial Contamination

细菌污染会腐蚀难以维护/维修的地下管道，并导致食源性疾病和医院获得性感染。材料在抵御有害细菌污染方面起着关键作用。我已建立的研究项目侧重于开发创新的抗菌材料和涂层，并了解这些材料和涂层的接触杀死作用模式。鉴于排放的杀菌剂对环境的负面影响以及抗生素耐药性的威胁日益增加，开发不向环境中释放额外杀菌剂并可被已常规使用的杀菌剂反复激活的杀菌剂涂层是可取的，并开发可能作为抗生素替代品且不诱导细菌耐药性的抗菌材料。n -氯胺是指一组具有N-Cl单键的化合物，其中Cl带部分正电荷并且是氧化的。n -氯胺杀死细菌后，转化为其前体胺/酰胺，再经氯漂白剂重新转化为n -氯胺。重要的是，没有细菌对n -氯胺产生耐药性的报道。然而，关于n -氯胺技术仍存在许多基本问题。本提案描述了一项研究计划，旨在发明新型n-氯胺基抗菌材料，并研究其与腐蚀诱导细菌和致病菌的相互作用，为开发新一代在工业和医疗保健领域具有重要用途的功能性生物杀灭材料奠定坚实的基础。我们将开发新的基于n -氯胺的抗菌涂层，这种涂层可以抵抗蛋白质，并且可以通过非常稀的氯（1-90ppm）再生，以及基于n -氯胺的选择性生物杀灭纳米颗粒，这种纳米颗粒不太可能引起细菌耐药性。这项研究计划预计将为以下方面的成功发展奠定坚实的基础：1)创新的可充电抗菌涂层，可应用于各种表面，以最大限度地减少细菌引起的腐蚀，细菌在环境和食品加工过程中的传播；2)细菌选择性生物杀灭纳米颗粒作为抗生素替代品。我们的研究结果将对抗菌材料界产生重大影响，因为它将代表处理细菌污染和阐明接触杀死机制的新视角。这个研究项目将继续把我的研究小组定位在抗菌功能材料领域的国际领先地位。该研究将为2名博士、2名硕士和5名理学士提供机会，让他们在材料工程和生物医学工程领域的潜在雇主对技术技能有很高的需求。我的跨学科培训环境将吸引与本地和国际行业建立新的合作伙伴关系。

Bacterial contamination can facilitate corrosion of hard-to-maintain/repair underground pipelines, and cause foodborne illnesses and hospital acquired infections. Materials play a pivotal role in warding off the detrimental bacterial contamination. My established research program focuses on developing innovative antibacterial materials and coatings, and understanding the contact-kill mode of action of those materials and coatings. In view of the negative impact of discharged biocides to the environment and the increasing threat of antibiotic resistance, it is desirable to develop biocidal coatings that do not release extra biocides into the environment and can be repeatedly reactivated to be biocidal by the already routinely used biocides, and develop antibacterial materials that can potentially serve as alternatives for antibiotics and do not induce bacterial resistance. N-chloramines refer to a group of compounds with an N-Cl single bond, in which Cl bears a partial positive charge and is oxidative. After killing bacteria, N-chloramines are converted to their precursor amines/amides which can be turned into N-chloramines again by chlorine bleach. Importantly, no bacterial resistance is reported against N-chloramines. However, many fundamental questions remain about the N-chloramine technology. The current proposal describes a research program that invents new N-chloramine-based antibacterial materials and investigates their interactions with corrosion-inducing and pathogenic bacteria, laying a solid foundation for the development of a new generation of functional biocidal materials with great utility in industrial and healthcare sectors. We will develop new N-chloramine-based antibacterial coatings that resist proteins and can be regenerated by very dilute chlorine (1-90ppm), and N-chloramine-based selective biocidal nanoparticles that are unlikely to induce bacterial resistance. This proposed research program is anticipated to lay a solid foundation for the successful development of 1) innovative rechargeable antibacterial coatings that can be applied to various surfaces to minimize bacteria caused corrosion, bacterial transmission in the environment and in food processing processes, and 2) bacteria selective biocidal nanoparticles as antibiotic alternatives. Our results will be of significant interest to the antibacterial materials community, as it will represent a new perspective of tackling bacterial contamination and elucidate the contact-kill mechanism. This research program will continue to position my research group as an international leader in the area of antibacterial functional materials. The research will provide opportunities for 2 PhD, 2 MSc and 5 BSc students to receive comprehensive training in technical skills that are in high demand by potential employers in material engineering and biomedical engineering sectors. My interdisciplinary training environment will attract new partnerships with local and international industry.