RAPID: Antimicrobial Coatings for the mitigation of virus transmission on high-touch surface

摘要本研究的目标是通过开发新型抗菌材料来限制COVID-19病毒和流感病毒的传播。这项工作的重点是可以用来涂覆经常接触的表面的金属合金。这些表面是病毒传播的主要因素，因为它们被感染者污染，并等待着在两个人之间没有任何直接接触的情况下感染健康人。有效的抗菌涂层可以通过释放氧化铜，大大缩短病毒在这些表面上存活的时间，从而最大限度地减少传播的可能性。在这项工作中，重点是平衡材料的抗菌行为与涂层的其他关键方面，特别是腐蚀和钝化行为，表面制备和清洁的影响。表面准备和清洁是重要的因素，因为任何涂层在实际环境中都是坚固有效的。通过对腐蚀行为的全面了解，可以更好地理解抗菌行为背后的科学原理，并使未来能够开发针对其他病毒或适当广谱的涂层，以应对各种病毒，从而可以通过这一策略应对未来流行病的威胁。技术摘要：这项工作的目的是确定抗菌功能铜基合金作为涂层在降低细菌和病毒在高接触表面上的生存能力方面的功效。降低病毒活力的过程取决于释放铜离子的浓度、合金的释放速率以及电化学反应产生的氧自由基，以及病毒的性质、浓度和接种量。这些反应和铜的命运取决于合金成分和表面结构、形态的细节，以及通过预处理和环境暴露产生的被动氧化表面膜的性质。给定的铜离子浓度会根据环境因素和病毒属性降低病毒的生存能力。因此，在这项工作中，使用具有代表性的SARS-CoV-2和流感毒株的病毒调色板来研究病毒的活力。以合理选择的铜基合金和预期的表面处理为起点，这些合金的抗菌性能，以病毒单位死亡随暴露时间的变化来判断，将被确定为合金成分和表面处理产生的表面特性的函数。详细的表面和电解质表征进行阐明腐蚀机制的细节，从而使病毒缓解。这项工作旨在通过回答最佳合金成分和处理的问题，以及影响为该功能进一步优化的合金的未来科学原理，从而能够立即选择用于部署高接触表面的特定铜合金。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-technical AbstractThe goal of the proposed work is to limit the transmission of the COVID-19 virus and influenza virus through the development of new antimicrobial materials. The work focuses on metal alloys that can be used to coat regularly touched surfaces. Such surfaces are a major contributor to the spread of a virus as they become contaminated by an infected individual and lay in wait to infect a healthy person without any direct contact between the two individuals. An effective antimicrobial coating can dramatically reduce the length of time a virus can survive on such surfaces through release of oxidized copper and in that way minimize the likelihood of transmission. In this work, the focus is on balancing the antimicrobial behavior of the materials with the other critical aspects of a coating, specifically, the corrosion and passivation behavior, the surface preparation, and the impact of cleaning. Surface preparation and cleaning are important factors since it is vital that any coating be robust and effective in real-world environments. By obtaining a thorough understanding of the corrosion behavior, it becomes possible to better understand the science underlying the antimicrobial behavior and enables the future development of coatings either targeted to other viruses or suitably broad-spectrum to address a wide range of viruses so that the threat of future pandemics can be addressed by this strategy.Technical AbstractThe goal of this work is to determine the efficacy of antimicrobial functional copper-based alloys deployed as coatings in reducing the survivability of bacteria and viruses on high-touch surfaces. The process of mitigating virus viability is dependent on the concentration of copper ions released, the rate of release from the alloys as well as oxygen radicals produced as a result of electrochemical reactions, and the nature, concentration, and inoculum of the virus. These reactions and the fate of copper depend on alloy composition and the details of surface structure, morphology, and the nature of the passive oxide surface film produced by pretreatments and ambient exposure. A given copper cation concentration reduces virus viability depending on environmental factors and virus attributes. Hence, in this work virus viability is investigated using a palette of viruses representative of SARS-CoV-2 as well as influenza strains. Using a judicial selection of copper-based alloys and expected surface treatments as the starting point, the antimicrobial performance of these alloys, judged by virus unit death over time of exposure will be determined as a function of alloy composition and surface character produced by surface preparation. Detailed surface and electrolyte characterization is carried out to elucidate the details of the corrosion mechanism, which enable virus mitigation. This work seeks to enable the immediate selection of specific copper alloys for deployment as high-touch surfaces by answering the question of optimal alloy composition and treatment as well as affect future scientific principles of alloys further optimized for this function.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.