Robust and Transparent Silver Oxide Coating Fabricated at Room Temperature Kills Clostridioides difficile Spores, MRSA, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Mohsen Hosseini; Jinge Huang; Myra D Williams; Gerardo Alexander Gonzalez; Xiuping Jiang; Joseph O Falkinham 3rd; William A Ducker

doi:10.3390/microorganisms12010083

Robust and Transparent Silver Oxide Coating Fabricated at Room Temperature Kills Clostridioides difficile Spores, MRSA, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Microorganisms. 2023 Dec 31;12(1):83. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12010083.

Authors

Mohsen Hosseini¹, Jinge Huang², Myra D Williams³, Gerardo Alexander Gonzalez¹, Xiuping Jiang², Joseph O Falkinham 3rd³, William A Ducker¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
² Department of Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA.
³ Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.

Abstract

Antimicrobial coatings can inhibit the transmission of infectious diseases when they provide a quick kill that is achieved long after the coating application. Here, we describe the fabrication and testing of a glass coating containing Ag₂O microparticles that was prepared from sodium silicate at room temperature. The half-lives of both methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa on this coating are only 2-4 min. The half-life of Clostridioides difficile spores is about 9-12 min, which is extremely short for a spore. Additional tests on MRSA demonstrate that the coating retains its antimicrobial activity after abrasion and that an increased loading of Ag₂O leads to a shorter half-life. This coating combines the properties of optical transparency, robustness, fast kill, and room temperature preparation that are highly desirable for an antimicrobial coating.

Keywords: Ag2O; antibacterial; antimicrobial; bacteria; coating; robust; silver; spore; transparent.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by a Virginia Tech Proof of Concept grant, and the National Science Foundation, grant numbers CHE-1531834. The work carried out by M.H. is partially funded by David W. and Lillian Francis Memorial Fellowship provided by Virginia Tech.