Water-Mediated In Situ Fabrication of CuI Nanoparticles on Flexible Cotton Fabrics as a Sustainable and Skin-Compatible Coating with Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Efficacy

Abstract

Infectious pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, can remain viable on common fabric surfaces for days, posing a significant risk of fomite transmission. Antimicrobial coatings are a widely employed approach for pathogen eradication upon direct contact. However, fabricating such coatings on fabric substrates mostly necessitates toxic organic solvents and complex equipment/ procedures. Most coatings also require a long contact time for complete disinfection, which may compromise their usefulness in mitigating the spread of highly infectious pathogens. Herein, we report a sustainable and scalable water-mediated method to prepare a copper iodide (CuI) coating on flexible cotton fabrics, attaining highly potent antimicrobial efficacy and rapid germicidal kinetics. Only water is required as the processing solvent for the in situ formation of CuI nanoparticles on the substrate, and the unconsumed reagents can be fully recycled, making the reported method a green, economical, and zero-waste technology promising for industrial scale-up. Within just 2 min of contact, the coated cotton fabric containing 5.1 wt % CuI nanoparticles exhibits near-complete inactivation of murine hepatitis coronavirus (>99.9%) and Salmonella bacteriophage P22 (>99.9999%) as models for the enveloped and nonenveloped viral species, respectively. It is also able to eliminate a variety of bacteria and fungi with 3.5−7.4 log reductions in 2−5 min. Furthermore, in view of the robust durability and skin compatibility of the coating, this simple yet powerful approach holds great promise for practical applications, especially in future infectious disease outbreaks.

Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Polymer-Coated Fabrics via Commodity Polystyrene Upcycling

“…For the in situ fabrication of our antimicrobial textiles, we employed a similar single-step drop-and-dry approach that we had showcased in our earlier efforts on other antimicrobial materials. , In the present study, we integrated the quaternization reaction into the in situ fabrication process. The goal was to react the pendent CH 2 Cl groups of CMPS with a tertiary amine to generate cationic ammonium moieties and simultaneously cross-link the polymer to afford a nanocoated cotton fabric where the polymer is no longer soluble in any solvent.…”

“…This method shares similarities with the in situ fabrication strategies that we had recently reported for inorganic antimicrobial materials. 36,37 The resulting flexible polycation-coated cotton fabrics were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and subsequently shown to exhibit antimicrobial activity against not only Gram-negative (e.g., Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and Gram-positive (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus and multidrugresistant S. aureus) bacteria but also the clinically important fungal pathogens (e.g., Candida albicans and Candida auris) upon physical contact.…”

Poly(sobrerol methacrylate) Colloidal Inks Sprayed onto Cellulose Nanofibril Thin Films for Anticounterfeiting Applications

“…These films are used for flexible electronics in flexible photovoltaics or sensors, fabricating membranes, e.g., to filter water from dust, salt, or heavy metals, or anticounterfeiting materials. , The macroscopic properties required for these applications are inherently determined by the hybrid materials’ morphologies; for example, they influence surface energy. The surface energy directly affects the usability of the porous thin films because it influences the surface’s water adhesion and solvent imbibition properties of porous films. , Depending on the material’s topology, the morphology changes during a treatment. , Both the deposition of colloids and the annealing process above a critical temperature alter the morphology of a material . Therefore, incorporating colloids into the network of porous cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) is suitable for modifying water adhesion .…”