Salentinig Research Group has recently published an article in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, entitled "Polycationic cotton for efficient bacterial capture and inactivation in water and air".

For more information: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221334372504014X

Abstract

Bacterial pathogens pose a significant global health challenge. While filtration systems can effectively disinfect water, clogging and resistance to flow from small pore sizes in the micrometer range often hinder their performance. This study presents the design and analysis of antimicrobial functionalized cotton fabrics for the disinfection of water and air. The fabrics with a mesh size of around 200 µm are covalently functionalized with the polycation [2-(Methacryloyloxy) ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride (METAC) using a scalable water-based coating and photopolymerization process. This mesh size, selected to minimize clogging and enhance water flow in filtration applications, is several orders of magnitude larger than that used in conventional size-exclusion-based water filters. Filtration assays focusing on single-use applications, conducted in a custom-designed flow-through setup demonstrate > 5 log (i.e., > 99.999 %) reductions of Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive) in the effluent. Moreover, the filter surface is demonstrated to kill both bacterial species within minutes of contact, preventing biomass accumulation and filter clogging. The antimicrobial activity of the filters against microorganisms in native river water is also demonstrated, underscoring their potential for applications. The antibacterial activity of the filters is also demonstrated to be retained under dry conditions, with > 99 % reduction of Staphylococcus aureus after minutes of contact. The findings contribute to the understanding of antimicrobial surfaces and the development of novel materials for water and air filtration.\