Efforts to control hospital acquired infections (HAIs) have been hampered by the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens, necessitating the pursuit of advanced functional materials that are capable of the self-disinfection of such microbes in hospital environments. To that end, we have explored two approaches for pathogen reduction: antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (aPDI) and antimicrobial anionic inactivation (AAI)/"pH-drop" materials. <i>In vitro</i> aPDI studies were performed with photosensitizer-embedded or conjugated nanofibrillated cellulose, polyacrylonitrile or nylon nanofibers, dual-dyed wool/acrylic blended fibers, olefinic block copolymers, and spray coatings, and have demonstrated microbial population reductions of &gt;99.99+% after exposure to visible light against drug-resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as fungi and viruses, including a human common cold coronavirus serving as a surrogate for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In the non-photodynamic AAI approach, excellent levels of antimicrobial activity were achieved through the use of charged multiblock polymers wherein the midblock was selectively sulfonated: the resultant hydrophilic and water-swellable polymers led to self-sterilizing surfaces that rapidly act (killing more than 99.9999% in just 5 min) against a similarly wide range of pathogens as the aPDI materials above, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Both sets of materials demonstrate complementary approaches to effective pathogen control. Together, these results demonstrate that such materials may have widespread applicability for non-specific pathogen disinfection, and further research may lead to their application in hospitals and healthcare-related industries where novel materials with the capability of reducing the rates of transmission of a wide range of bacteria, viruses, and fungi, particularly of antibiotic resistant strains, are desired.

Antimicrobial strategies for infection prevention in hospitals and related healthcare settings: Photodynamic and pH-drop materials

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ACS Fall 2022

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