Antiviral Leather: A Functional Coating Based on SiO2-AgNPs to Eliminate Pathogens

A bovine leather material functionalized with SiO2-Ag nanoparticles (NPs) composite, which possesses highly efficient antimicrobial activity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria, has been developed. The characterization of this material was conducted using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The immobilization of SiO2-AgNPs within the collagen fibers of the leather resulted in surface modification, leading to an increase in material roughness (from 8.93 nm ± 1.55–12.36 nm ± 1.76 nm) and the contact angle (from 76◦ to 81◦) of the SiO2-AgNPs coated leather. This functionalized leather exhibited an impressive efficacy of 99.93% against SARSCoV-2% and 99.99% against S. aureus, attributed to the oxidizing properties of the Ag NPs and the enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These results highlight that the immobilization of SiO2-AgNPs on the surface of bovine leather is an simple, effective and low-cost strategy for obtaining new surfaces with high
antimicrobial activity.