Structure antimicrobial mechanisms with zinc oxide

2019冠状病毒病大流行、抗菌素耐药性上升、人口增长和气候变化加剧了对防止微生物生长的材料的需求。到2026年，抗菌涂料的市场规模预计将增长到130亿英镑[Parihar & Prasad， 2020]，而全球抗菌添加剂市场在2020年的价值为47亿美元，预计到2030年将达到93亿美元，从2021年到2030年的复合年增长率为7.1% [Bilagi, Mittal & Prasad 2021]。抗微生物添加剂已经存在了几个世纪，但目前使用的化学物质具有很高的毒性，危及从制造商、消费者到环境的一切。这些化学物质包括廉价的有机化合物，如迪乌隆和甲基异噻唑啉酮，以及昂贵的银。法规的增加和公众意识的提高正在推动对无害、绿色和可持续生产的抗菌添加剂的追求。AM最近开发了一种极具成本效益和可持续的制造工艺，用于制造和调整抗菌纳米氧化锌的结构[Jose等人，2021]，该工艺经监管部门批准无毒，但对微生物非常有效。然而，纳米氧化锌对致病微生物作用的确切机制仍然不清楚，需要进一步的数据来创造一种能够提供广谱和靶向抗菌活性的先进技术。氧化锌是一种非常多样化的材料，在特定的纳米结构中具有已知的抗菌特性（见右图）。它的主要晶体形式纤锌矿实际上是一种极性晶体，它可以排列形成各种形状、大小和表面特征。这种能力使氧化锌能够创造出丰富的电、化学和物理特性，在抗菌作用中发挥关键作用。重要的是，氧化锌可以通过多种方式提供抗菌活性，这使得它在对抗抗菌素耐药性方面非常有前途。最近的文献发现提出了许多问题-为什么大小和形状介导抗菌活性？粒子的各向异性是否增强了生物膜的渗透能力？为什么某些种类的细菌对相同的氧化锌结构比其他种类的细菌更敏感？如何控制抗菌活性并针对特定结果进行调整？这个共同创建的项目的愿景是对纳米氧化锌材料的抗菌机制建立一个基本的物理理解，从而可以通过整体方法制造新的先进材料，专门针对特定的致病性和抗微生物耐药性菌株[Barbieri等人，2021]。我们这样做的目标是创建一个平台科学，使其能够快速应用于工业。

The Covid-19 pandemic, the rise of antimicrobial resistance, rising populations, and climate change have exacerbated the needs for materials which prevent the growth of microbes. The market size for antimicrobial coatings is expected to grow up to £13bn by 2026 [Parihar & Prasad, 2020] while the the global antimicrobial additives market was valued at $4.7 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $9.3 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 7.1% from 2021 to 2030 [Bilagi, Mittal & Prasad 2021].Antimicrobial additives have existed for centuries, but the currently-used chemicals have high toxicities, endangering everything from manufacturers, consumers, to the environment. These chemicals include cheap organic compounds, such as diuron and methylisothiazolinone, and silver, which is costly. Increase in regulations and rise in public awareness are now driving the quest for antimicrobial additives that are non-hazardous, green, and sustainably manufactured.AM has recently developed an extremely cost-effective and sustainable manufacturing process for creating and tuning the structure of antimicrobial nano zinc oxide [Jose et al. 2021], which is known to be nontoxic with regulatory approval, but highly effective against microbes. However, the exact mechanisms of nano zinc oxide's action against pathogenic microbes are still obscure, and further data is needed to create an advanced technology capable to delivering both broad spectrum and targeted antimicrobial activity.Zinc oxide is an incredibly diverse material with known antimicrobial properties in particular nanostructures (see figure right). As its dominant crystal form, wurtzite, is in fact a polar crystal, it can arrange to form a wide range of shapes, sizes and surface features. This ability enables zinc oxide to create a rich landscape of electrical, chemical and physical properties that can play key roles in antimicrobial action. Importantly, the multiple ways in which ZnO can deliver antimicrobial activity makes it highly promising for combatting AMR.Many questions have been posed by recent literature findings - why does size and shape mediate antimicrobial activity? Does particle anisotropy enhance biofilm penetration ability? Why are some species of bacteria more sensitive than others to the same zinc oxide structure? How can the antimicrobial activity be controlled and tailored for specific outcomes?The vision of this co-created programme is to create a fundamental, physical understanding of antimicrobial mechanisms of nano zinc oxide materials, so that new advanced materials can be made, specifically tuned to particularly pathogenic and antimicrobial resistant strains via a holistic approach [Barbieri et al., 2021]. Our ambition in doing this is to create the platform science that will enable rapid industrial adoption.