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Štular D, de Velde NV, Drinčić A, Kogovšek P, Filipić A, Fric K, Simončič B, Tomšič B, Chouhan RS, Bohm S, Kr. Verma S, Panda PK, Jerman I. Boosting Copper Biocidal Activity by Silver Decoration and Few-Layer Graphene in Coatings on Textile Fibers. Glob Chall 2023; 7:2300113. [PMID: 37829680 PMCID: PMC10566802 DOI: 10.1002/gch2.202300113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 08/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
The outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the importance of developing antiviral surface coatings that are capable of repelling pathogens and neutralizing them through self-sanitizing properties. In this study, a novel coating design based on few-layer graphene (FLG) is proposed and silver-decorated micro copper flakes (CuMF) that exhibit both antibacterial and antiviral properties. The role of sacrificial anode surfaces and intrinsic graphene defects in enhancing the release of metal ions from CuMF embedded in water-based binders is investigated. In silico analysis is conducted to better understand the molecular interactions of pathogen-repelling species with bacterial or bacteriophage proteins. The results show that the optimal amount of CuMF/FLG in the coating leads to a significant reduction in bacterial growth, with reductions of 3.17 and 9.81 log for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively. The same coating also showed high antiviral efficacy, reducing bacteriophage phi6 by 5.53 log. The antiviral efficiency of the coating is find to be doubled compared to either micro copper flakes or few-layer graphene alone. This novel coating design is versatile and can be applied to various substrates, such as personal protective clothing and face masks, to provide biocidal activity against both bacterial and viral pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danaja Štular
- National Institute of ChemistryHajdrihova 19Ljubljana1001Slovenia
| | | | - Ana Drinčić
- National Institute of ChemistryHajdrihova 19Ljubljana1001Slovenia
| | - Polona Kogovšek
- National Institute of BiologyVečna pot 111Ljubljana1000Slovenia
| | - Arijana Filipić
- National Institute of BiologyVečna pot 111Ljubljana1000Slovenia
| | - Katja Fric
- National Institute of BiologyVečna pot 111Ljubljana1000Slovenia
| | - Barbara Simončič
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and EngineeringUniversity of LjubljanaAškerčeva 12Ljubljana1000Slovenia
| | - Brigita Tomšič
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and EngineeringUniversity of LjubljanaAškerčeva 12Ljubljana1000Slovenia
| | - Raghuraj S. Chouhan
- Institute “Jožef Stefan”Department of Environmental SciencesJamova 39Ljubljana1000Slovenia
| | - Sivasambu Bohm
- Imperial College LondonSouth Kensington CampusLondonSW7 2AZUK
| | - Suresh Kr. Verma
- Ångströmlaboratoriet Lägerhyddsv1 Box 530Uppsala75121Sweden
- School of BiotechnologyKIIT UniversityBhubaneswar751024India
| | | | - Ivan Jerman
- National Institute of ChemistryHajdrihova 19Ljubljana1001Slovenia
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Plohl O, Kokol V, Filipić A, Fric K, Kogovšek P, Fratnik ZP, Vesel A, Kurečič M, Robič J, Gradišnik L, Maver U, Zemljič LF. Screen-printing of chitosan and cationised cellulose nanofibril coatings for integration into functional face masks with potential antiviral activity. Int J Biol Macromol 2023; 236:123951. [PMID: 36898451 PMCID: PMC9995302 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.123951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/11/2023]
Abstract
Masks proved to be necessary protective measure during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they provided a physical barrier rather than inactivating viruses, increasing the risk of cross-infection. In this study, high-molecular weight chitosan and cationised cellulose nanofibrils were screen-printed individually or as a mixture onto the inner surface of the first polypropylene (PP) layer. First, biopolymers were evaluated by various physicochemical methods for their suitability for screen-printing and antiviral activity. Second, the effect of the coatings was evaluated by analysing the morphology, surface chemistry, charge of the modified PP layer, air permeability, water-vapour retention, add-on, contact angle, antiviral activity against the model virus phi6 and cytotoxicity. Finally, the functional PP layers were integrated into face masks, and resulting masks were tested for wettability, air permeability, and viral filtration efficiency (VFE). Air permeability was reduced for modified PP layers (43 % reduction for kat-CNF) and face masks (52 % reduction of kat-CNF layer). The antiviral potential of the modified PP layers against phi6 showed inhibition of 0.08 to 0.97 log (pH 7.5) and cytotoxicity assay showed cell viability above 70 %. VFE of the masks remained the same (~99.9 %), even after applying the biopolymers, confirming that these masks provided high level of protection against viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivija Plohl
- University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Smetanova ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
| | - Vanja Kokol
- University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Smetanova ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
| | - Arijana Filipić
- National Institute of Biology, Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
| | - Katja Fric
- National Institute of Biology, Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
| | - Polona Kogovšek
- National Institute of Biology, Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
| | - Zdenka Peršin Fratnik
- University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Smetanova ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
| | - Alenka Vesel
- Jožef Stefan Institute, Department of Surface Engineering and Optoelectronics, Teslova 30, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
| | - Manja Kurečič
- University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Smetanova ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
| | - Jure Robič
- Omega Air d.o.o Ljubljana, Cesta Dolomitskega odreda 10, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
| | - Lidija Gradišnik
- University of Maribor, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Taborska ulica 8, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
| | - Uroš Maver
- University of Maribor, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Taborska ulica 8, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
| | - Lidija Fras Zemljič
- University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Smetanova ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
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Filipić A, Fric K, Ravnikar M, Kogovšek P. Assessment of Different Experimental Setups to Determine Viral Filtration Efficiency of Face Masks. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 19:15353. [PMID: 36430072 PMCID: PMC9690668 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192215353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many new materials and masks came onto the market. To determine their suitability, several standards specify which properties to test, including bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE), while none describe how to determine viral filtration efficiency (VFE), a property that is particularly important in times of pandemic. Therefore, we focused our research on evaluating the suitability and efficiency of different systems for determining VFE. Here, we evaluated the VFE of 6 mask types (e.g., a surgical mask, a respirator, material for mask production, and cloth masks) with different filtration efficiencies in four experimental setups and compared the results with BFE results. The study included 17 BFE and 22 VFE experiments with 73 and 81 mask samples tested, respectively. We have shown that the masks tested had high VFE (>99% for surgical masks and respirators, ≥98% for material, and 87-97% for cloth masks) and that all experimental setups provided highly reproducible and reliable VFE results (coefficient of variation < 6%). Therefore, the VFE tests described in this study can be integrated into existing standards for mask testing.
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Plohl O, Fric K, Filipić A, Kogovšek P, Tušek Žnidarič M, Zemljič LF. First Insights into the Antiviral Activity of Chitosan-Based Bioactive Polymers towards the Bacteriophage Phi6: Physicochemical Characterization, Inactivation Potential, and Inhibitory Mechanisms. Polymers (Basel) 2022; 14:polym14163357. [PMID: 36015613 PMCID: PMC9413598 DOI: 10.3390/polym14163357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Revised: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The outbreak of the worrisome coronavirus disease in 2019 has caused great concern among the global public, especially regarding the need for personal protective equipment with applied antiviral agents to reduce the spread and transmission of the virus. Thus, in our research, chitosan-based bioactive polymers as potential antiviral agents were first evaluated as colloidal macromolecular solutions by elemental analysis and charge. Three different types of low and high molecular weight chitosan (LMW Ch, HMW Ch) and a LMW Ch derivative, i.e., quaternary chitosan (quart-LMW Ch), were used. To explore their antiviral activity for subsequent use in the form of coatings, the macromolecular Chs dispersions were incubated with the model virus phi6 (surrogate for SARS-CoV-2), and the success of virus inactivation was determined. Inactivation of phi6 with some chitosan-based compounds was very successful (>6 log), and the mechanisms behind this were explored. The changes in viral morphology after incubation were observed and the changes in infrared bands position were determined. In addition, dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering studies were performed to better understand the interaction between Chs and phi6. The results allowed us to better understand the antiviral mode of action of Chs agents as a function of their physicochemical properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivija Plohl
- Laboratory for Characterization and Processing of Polymers, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maribor, Smetanova ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +386-2-229-7715
| | - Katja Fric
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Arijana Filipić
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Polona Kogovšek
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Magda Tušek Žnidarič
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Lidija Fras Zemljič
- Laboratory for Characterization and Processing of Polymers, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maribor, Smetanova ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
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Poradovský K, Lukacín S, Zborovjan M, Böszörményi P, Kraus V, Fric K. [The utilisation of nonstress cardiotocography in assessing danger to the fetus in risk pregnancy (author's transl)]. BRATISL MED J 1980; 73:541-50. [PMID: 7388656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
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