SUPER-REPELLENT ANTIMICROBIAL COATINGS TO ENSURE FOOD SAFETY

Project: Research

Project Details

Description

Unsafe food and food poisoning due to insufficient protection from pathogenic bacteria results in human suffering from illness and tremendous financial repercussions. Numerous outbreaks in the U.S. were due to contaminated food processing facility. Therefore, it is of extreme importance to prevent the accumulation of pathogenic bacteria inside food processing facilities. Our objective is to develop super-repellent antimicrobial nanostructured coatings for food processing facilities (both food contact and non-contact surfaces) to eliminate a major external source of bacterial infection for food. The super-repellent antimicrobial coatings, which are topographically structured to mimic the lotus leaf surface (i.e., dual-scale structure), will combine two mechanisms of eliminating bacteria into one system: repelling (due to super-repellency against both water and oil) and killing (due to covalently bonded quaternary ammonium groups at the coating surface). The innovative antimicrobial coatings can be applied to food processing facilities and peripheral surfaces (drains, floors, storage tanks, apparel, etc.), and have the potential to greatly reduce bacterial attachment and biofilm formation, thus reducing foodborne pathogens. Moreover, the technology to be developed may also find applications in healthcare settings, personal hygiene industry, biomedical industry, and other high-touch, high risk environments, making significant contributions to a better and safer society.

StatusFinished
Effective start/end date12/1/1011/30/13

Funding

  • National Institute of Food and Agriculture: $347,500.00

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