The development of an antimicrobial coating for fabric and surfaces

总部位于多伦多的Giftgown公司生产和销售舒适、风格化的医院礼服，供消费者携带到医院或作为礼物赠送给留在医院的朋友或亲人。这种礼服很受欢迎，但与标准问题不同的是，实用的“蓝色医院礼服”每天都要清洗和消毒，它们可能更容易受到医疗相关感染(HCAI)，因为在患者住院期间，它们可能不会像以前那样频繁地清洗。许多专业礼服制造商的情况与礼服相同，因为它们缺乏抗微生物特性，而抗微生物特性可以让需要长时间住院的患者安心。Giftgown联系了Seneca的生物科学和应用化学学院，帮助他们解决了为礼服提供抗菌性能的挑战。Seneca和Giftgown通过NSERC大学参与基金合作开发了一种抗菌原型喷雾，这种喷雾是通过将精油(EO)，特别是百里香酚(牛至EO的主要成分)封装成纳米颗粒而开发的。在这项后续工作中，Seneca生物科学和应用化学学院的两名研究助理(RAS)将在Barkev Keoshkerian教授和Frank Merante教授的指导下，研究其他精油和其他实验提取物的功效，这将导致更有效和更持久的抗微生物特性。这一后续研究项目的目的是开发一种简单、可扩展且成本效益高的纳米颗粒，它可以作为抗微生物载体和使用可持续、环保、抗微生物材料的受控释放载体。这款产品，以及制造和应用它所需的工艺，将是一种新的、增强的礼服产品。

Giftgowns, a Toronto-based company, manufactures and sells comfortable, stylized hospital gowns for consumers to bring with them to the hospital or give as a gift to friends or loved ones staying in the hospital. The gowns are popular but, unlike the standard issue, utilitarian "blue hospital gowns", which are washed and sterilized every day, they may be more susceptible to healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) as they may not be washed as frequently during a patient's hospital stay. Many specialized gown manufacturers are in the same situation as Giftgowns in that they lack the anti-microbial properties which would provide peace of mind to patients requiring long hospital stays. Giftgowns approached Seneca's School of Biological Sciences and Applied Chemistry to help them solve the challenge of providing anti-bacterial properties to their gowns. Seneca and Giftgowns collaborated with funding through an NSERC Engage for Colleges grant to develop an anti-bacterial prototype spray, which was developed from the encapsulation of essential oils (EO), specifically thymol (a major component of oregano EO) into nano-particles. In this follow up work, two research assistants (RAs) from Seneca School of Biological Science and Applied Chemistry under the supervision of Professor Barkev Keoshkerian and Professor Frank Merante will investigate the efficacy of other essential oils, as well as other experimental extracts, which will result in more effective and persistent anti-microbial properties. This follow on research project is designed with the purpose of developing a simple, scalable and cost efficient nanofabricated-particle that can function as an anti-microbial carrier and controlled release vehicle using sustainable, eco-friendly, anti-microbial materials. This product, and the processes needed to manufacture and apply it, will be a new, enhanced offering for Giftgowns.