SBIR Phase I: Highly Potent Nanozeolite-based Silver Antimicrobials

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is providing a high potent antimicrobial solution for textiles, coatings, polymers, and wound care and bandages. There is considerable proliferation of antibiotic resistant bacteria, and, antimicrobials that do not develop resistance is of significant societal interest. Silver-based antimicrobials are filling this need, and are being used in a variety of medical, consumer and food-related applications. Silver is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial, effective against gram positive, gram negative bacteria (including methicillin-and vancomycin resistant bacteria) as well as fungi, viruses, and biofilms. This has led health care, consumer and food industries to use silver antimicrobial products. The global market for silver-based powder antimicrobial coatings is currently valued at $910 million and expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.1% until 2020. Concerns however, are increasing about the release of silver and the resulting influence on the environment. Development of high potency silver products using the minimum amount of silver can significantly broaden its use. The benefits of this versatile antimicrobial platform include: 1000-fold increased potency, decreased cost, invisibility and compatibility with formulations. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop and test a highly potent silver-based antimicrobial product. Higher potency is due to control of size of ligand-free AgNP (1-3 nm) anchored to the surface of ~30 nm nanozeolite (NZ), and fast release of Ag+ within the zeolite. The bactericidal activity of AgNP-NZ has been examined with E. coli (gram negative) and antibiotic resistant MRSA (gram positive), with significant improvement. The potency is further enhanced by modifying the NZ support to introduce multiple features: increased antimicrobial activity via NZ ion-exchanged Zn2+, and surface modification of NZ to enhance interactions with bacteria, including penetration within the bacteria. At the conclusion of this SBIR Phase I project, the product will be ready for further commercialization and marketing by (1) demonstrating the scalability of the synthesis procedure so that there is enough supply of product in the product development process; (2) optimizing synthesis procedure of antimicrobial material according to antimicrobial property, including Ag+ and Zn2+ loading and surface modifications; (3) obtaining third party test reports on optimized samples as objective evidence for marketing and (4) studying the toxicity of the product toward mammalian cells to address toxicity concerns. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.