The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be to reduce and prevent surface-based transmission of pathogens and thereby help public and institutional spaces become cleaner and safer, especially for at-risk populations. Hospital-acquired infections can be prevented by killing bacteria, molds, and fungi; and inactivating viruses on surfaces before they are able to pass to another person. The project will develop antimicrobial paints based on hydrogen peroxide (HP), which does not have toxic degradation products since it turns into water and oxygen. HP has a long history of safe use, without allowing generation of resistant strains of infectious organisms. The paints can improve hygiene, and allow more efficient cleaning with peroxide-based agents, from which the paints can regenerate their antimicrobial efficacy, providing durable protection without highly toxic chemical applications. Competing antimicrobial paints are expensive, have not demonstrated long-term antimicrobial activity, or have used chemistries that carry the risk of developing microbial resistance. The proposed peroxide based antimicrobial paint will be more affordable, and very safe to implement, allowing regeneration of efficacy during cleaning. This will enable more widespread use in public health and institutional settings to help protect against transmissible infections. The proposed project addresses the technical challenge of developing an antimicrobial paint that can be regenerated, based on the use of HP in the formulation to achieve broad-spectrum antimicrobial and virucidal activity with long-term efficacy. This project leverages new technology to produce paint coatings that can sequester HP into a coated surface in a dry non-volatile form. This enables the slow release of HP over time that can be regenerated by exposure to commercially available solutions containing HP. HP degrades into innocuous products. Bacteria and viruses are not able to develop resistance to its disinfecting mechanism. Hence, the resulting product and its regeneration process will be long-lasting, cost-effective and environmentally safe. Technical challenges to be addressed in this project include ensuring formulation stability, antimicrobial and virucidal potency and recharging functionality of the paint, and the effects of HP on paint integrity. The team will closely collaborate with specialty coatings experts to develop and test viable paint formulations. Anticipated technical results include a prototype version of the technology, and documentation of the research outcomes and further regeneration requirements. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
