A team of materials scientists from RMIT University and CSIRO has designed and fabricated a micro-nano copper structure and demonstrated its exceptional bactericidal efficacy against the common and deadly Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The researchers believe there could be a huge range of applications for the new material once further developed, including antimicrobial doorhandles and other touch surfaces in schools, hospitals, homes and public transport, as well as filters in antimicrobial respirators or air ventilation systems, and in face masks.
Conventional copper has long been used to fight different strains of bacteria, including the commonly found Staphylococcus aureus, because the ions released from the metal’s surface are toxic to bacterial cells.
But this process is slow when standard copper is used and significant efforts are underway by researchers worldwide to speed it up.
“A standard copper surface will kill about 97% of golden staph within four hours,” said Professor Ma Qian, a researcher in the School of Engineering at RMIT University.
“Incredibly, when we placed golden staph bacteria on our specially-designed copper surface, it destroyed more than 99.99% of the cells in just two minutes. So not only is it more effective, it’s 120 times faster.”
The copper’s unique porous structure was key to its effectiveness as a rapid bacteria killer.
Professor Qian and colleagues used a special copper mould casting process to arrange copper and manganese atoms into...
Read Full Story: http://www.sci-news.com/medicine/bactericidal-copper-surface-10363.html
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.
