Towards transparent and durable copper-containing antimicrobial surfaces

Communications Materials volume  5, Article number: 39 (2024 ) Cite this article

Metallic copper is a potent antimicrobial agent with high efficacy against a range of microorganisms. Whilst it is commonplace for objects such as door handles and hospital bedrails to be made of or to be coated with copper, other high-touch surfaces such as those of screens and monitors would lose their optical transparency. Herein, we report the design of a transparent antimicrobial nanostructured copper surface obtained by dewetting ultrathin metal copper films on glass. Antimicrobial effectiveness of >99.9 % was obtained within 2 h against Staphylococcus aureus following the US Environmental Protection Agency Test method. Moreover, the proposed surfaces show an average transmittance between 70–80% with little color in the visible range. Additionally, they maintain optical and antimicrobial properties after abrasion and chemical exposure tests designed to replicate physical wear and repeated exposure to biocidal cleaning materials. With the demonstrated surfaces’ antimicrobial, colorless, and durability properties, they have potential in applications such as touch-enabled public or personal displays once higher transparency is achieved.

In recent years, the potential of surfaces to harbor harmful microorganisms has attracted great attention. Together with increased awareness, there is now a growing demand for effective disinfection practices of personal and multi-user touch activated displays, in which traditional methods such as sprayable alcohol are impractical. More specifically, coatings containing antimicrobial (AM) constituents are a promising solution for glass, when they are transparent, durable during its use case and resistant to general use wear-and-tear1,2,3.

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