Novel antibacterial silver-silica surface coatings prepared by chemical vapour deposition for infection control

Varghese, S; Elfakhri, SO; Sheel, DW; Sheel, P; Bolton, FJ; Foster, HA

Abstract

Aims: Environmental contamination plays an important role in the
transmission of infections, especially healthcare-associated infections.
Disinfection transiently reduces contamination, but surfaces can rapidly
become re-contaminated. Antimicrobial surfaces may partially overcome that
limitation. The antimicrobial activity of novel surface coatings containing silver
and silica prepared using a flame-assisted chemical vapour deposition method
on both glass and ceramic tiles was investigated.
Methods and Results: Antimicrobial activity against a variety of bacteria
including recent clinical isolates was investigated based on the BS ISO
22196:2007 Plastics – Measurement of antibacterial activity on plastics surfaces,
British Standards Institute, London, method. Activity on natural
contamination in an in use test in a toilet facility was also determined. Activity
on standard test strains gave a log10 reduction of five after 1–4 h. The hospital
isolates were more resistant, but MRSA was reduced by a log10 reduction
factor of >5 after 24 h. Activity was maintained after simulated ageing and
washing cycles. Contamination in situ was reduced by >99�9% after 4 months.
Activity was inhibited by protein, but, although this could be overcome by
increasing the amount of silver in the films, this reduced the hardness of the
coating.
Conclusions: The coatings had a good activity against standard test strains.
Clinical isolates were killed more slowly but were still sensitive. The optimum
composition for use therefore needs to be a balance between activity and
durability.
Significance and Impact of the Study: The coatings may have applications in
health care by maintaining a background antimicrobial activity between
standard cleaning and disinfection regimes. They may also have applications in
other areas where reduction in microbial contamination is important, for
example, in the food industry.

Citation

Varghese, S., Elfakhri, S., Sheel, D., Sheel, P., Bolton, F., & Foster, H. (2013). Novel antibacterial silver-silica surface coatings prepared by chemical vapour deposition for infection control. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 115(5), 1107-1116. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.12308

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Sep 12, 2014
• Journal: Journal of Applied Microbiology
• Print ISSN: 1364-5072
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 115
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 1107-1116
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.12308
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jam.12308
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2672
• Additional Information: Funders : Funder not known