STTR Phase I: Engineering of Non-leaching Antibacterial Surfaces and Textiles

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I proposes to develop antibacterial surfaces and textiles for commercial applications. A series of novel potent dendrimer biocides has been identified, which can be used alone to kill microorganisms, or bound to polymer substrates to produce non-leaching biocidal polymers. The aim of this program is to chemically graft these potent microbiological agents to a polymer backbone and optimize these polymer systems using electrospinning techniques to fabricate inherently antimicrobial microfiber webs. Electrospinning can be performed on a small scale, to produce webs with a high surface area to volume ratio. This optimizes the exposure of the grafted biocide at the surface, where it can exert its microbiological effects. Physical and biological characterization of the resulting webs will be performed. The commercial applications of this project are to develop materials for use where bacterial contamination and infection controls are required, including but not limited to food and beverage handling, water treatment, medical devices, textile manufacture and antimicrobial filters.