Copper is well known for being able to kill off bacteria that it comes into contact with – the metal releases ions that are toxic to bacterial cells, punching through their outer membranes. However, this process usually takes several hours.
A newly developed copper surface does the job in just a couple of minutes, though, some 120 times faster than normal copper. The less time the bacteria hang around, of course, the safer that surfaces like door handles and worktops are going to be.
The scientists behind the new copper surface tested it against golden staph bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), responsible for a wide variety of infections, and one of the five most common causes of infections picked up in hospitals.
"A standard copper surface will kill about 97 percent of golden staph within four hours," says materials engineer Ma Qian from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia.
"Incredibly, when we placed golden staph bacteria on our specially designed copper surface, it destroyed more than 99.99 percent of the cells in just 2 minutes. Our copper structure has shown itself to be remarkably potent for such a common material."
Crucial to the bacteria-killing abilities of the new material is its porous nature, which significantly increases the surface area compared with smooth copper. That means more of the bacteria cells can be attacked at once when they land.
To make this copper as porous as possible, the team produced an alloy of copper and ...
Read Full Story: https://www.sciencealert.com/new-copper-surface-kills-bacteria-in-2-minutes-120x-faster-than-normal-copper
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