Microbial infections impose major consequences on global, national, and individual level. For example, hospital acquired infections (HAIs) are a large problem in the western societies with costs up to billions of dollars. In the United States only, the HAIs result in approximately one million infections annually with significant morbidity and ca. 5% mortality (up to 25% in the intensive care units) [1].<br/>In this work natural fibre based substrates such as paper and pulp were functionalized with metal and metal oxide nanoparticles for antimicrobial activity. We utilized a liquid flame spray (LFS) nanoparticle deposition [2] that is a versatile tool for depositing various nanoparticles on different substrates at an atmospheric condition. LFS can easily be up-scaled for a large-scale production with a roll-to-roll process flow.<br/>We selected silver nanoparticles for a reference as shown in Fig. 1 in addition to photocatalytically active TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were deposited on pulp, release base paper, and polyethylene (PE) coated paperboard. The antimicrobial activity of the substrates was tested using a touch preparate test method with Escherichia coli (gram negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (gram positive) bacteria that mimics bacterial transfer from the surface. The antimicrobial activity testing was complemented with a detailed physico-chemical characterization by using FESEM and XPS.<br/>The nanoparticle coatings on natural fibre-based substrates show antimicrobial activity both against gram negative and positive bacteria. We believe that such antimicrobial, cost- effective, and disposable LFS nanoparticle coated natural fibre-based substrates will find many applications in the future.

Liquid flame spray (LFS) deposited nanoparticles on natural fibre based substrates for antimicrobial activity

255th National Meeting (2018)

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