Scientists from the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) have developed a new family of glasses with biocidal activity that eliminate more than 99.9% of the population of pathogenic microorganisms without causing toxic effects for the environment and eukaryotic systems. The study has been published in the journal PLOS ONE .
Zinc oxide (ZnO), one of the components used in these glasses, has a high biocidal activity. There was no experimental evidence of stable glasses with zinc oxide content above 10%, however, the multidisciplinary team of scientists who participated in this work managed to obtain glasses with zinc oxide content of up to 40% and verified that they maintained His properties. In 2013, a patent application was filed with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office.
“Its biocidal activity is effective against Gram- ( Escherichia coli ), Gram + ( Staphylococcus aureus ) and yeast ( Candida krusei ) bacteria . These products can act as dispensers of zinc ions in different media -such as distilled water or undistilled water- and can be produced using conventional manufacturing methods at low cost, thus responding to one of the most important current challenges: stopping diseases and bio-contamination caused by microorganisms ”, explains José Serafín Moya, CSIC researcher at the Institute of Materials Science in Madrid.
Among its possible applications are the use in medical implants and surgical equipment but also in the manufacture of clothing for healthcare centers, in water purification systems, in food storage systems. "It is the first step to obtain new biocidal materials based on these glasses, such as vitreous nanofibers, coatings for dental implants or surgical prostheses", concludes Moya.
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