Ag nanoparticles-based antimicrobial polycotton fabrics to prevent the transmission and spread of SARS-CoV-2

It estimates that food loss and waste costs the global economy $936 billion a year and Nanox is helping to solve this problem using antimicrobial technology to apply mainly in food packaging. Nanox creates a technology platform that can decrease the food waste improving the food shelf-life. Depending on the food, Nanox's products can double the shelf life. NANOX develops, produces and commercializes silver based inorganic antimicrobials (safer and more efficient), which can be incorporated into a wide range of materials, making them free bacteria and fungi. The product needs to be added in the manufacturing process of the products, in other words, in the food packaging case it is necessary to add during the manufacturing process of the packaging. The main benefit for food packaging is to improve the food shelf life and decrease the food waste. We have a case in the fresh milk market where our product extended the fresh milk shelf life from 8 to 16 days. Nanox products have registered in FDA and EPA and available in masterbatch form.

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It is a natural additive for flexible films, FDA and EPA approved to extend fruit and vegetables shelf-life. Nanox provides it in masterbatch form and our customer needs to add on the packaging manufacturing process.

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COVID-19, as the cause of a global pandemic, has resulted in lockdowns all over the world since early 2020. Both theoretical and experimental efforts are being made to find an effective treatment to suppress the virus, constituting the forefront of current global safety concerns and a significant burden on global economies. The development of innovative materials able to prevent the transmission, spread, and entry of COVID-19 pathogens into the human body is currently in the spotlight. The synthesis of these materials is, therefore, gaining momentum, as methods providing nontoxic and environmentally friendly procedures are in high demand. Here, a highly virucidal material constructed from SiO2-Ag composite immobilized in a polymeric matrix (ethyl vinyl acetate) is presented. The experimental results indicated that the as-fabricated samples exhibited high antibacterial activity towards Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) as well as towards SARS-CoV-2. Based on the present results and radical scavenger experiments, we propose a possible mechanism to explain the enhancement of the biocidal activity. In the presence of O2 and H2O, the plasmon-assisted surface mechanism is the major reaction channel generating reactive oxygen species (ROS). We believe that the present strategy based on the plasmonic effect would be a significant contribution to the design and preparation of efficient biocidal materials. This fundamental research is a precedent for the design and application of adequate technology to the next-generation of antiviral surfaces to combat SARS-CoV-2.

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