Transparent and Sprayable Surface Coatings that Kill Drug-Resistant Bacteria Within Minutes and Inactivate SARS-CoV-2 Virus

Abstract

Antimicrobial coatings are one method to reduce the spread of microbial diseases. Transparent coatings preserve the visual properties of surfaces and are strictly necessary for applications such as antimicrobial cell phone screens. This work describes transparent coatings that inactivate microbes within minutes. The coatings are based on a polydopamine (PDA) adhesive, which has the useful property that the monomer can be sprayed, and then the monomer polymerizes in a conformal film at room temperature. Two coatings are described (1) a coating where PDA is deposited first and then a thin layer of copper is grown on the PDA by electroless deposition (PDA/Cu) and (2) a coating where a suspension of Cu₂O particles in a PDA solution is deposited in a single step (PDA/Cu₂O). In the second coating, PDA menisci bind Cu₂O particles to the solid surface. Both coatings are transparent and are highly efficient in inactivating microbes. PDA/Cu kills >99.99% of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> and 99.18% of methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA) in only 10 min and inactivates 99.98% of SARS-CoV-2 virus in 1 h. PDA/Cu₂O kills 99.94% of <i>P. aeruginosa</i> and 96.82% of MRSA within 10 min and inactivates 99.88% of SARS-CoV-2 in 1 h.