Posted on 07/19/2011 10:34:19 AM PDT by Red Badger
Materials scientists at the University of Birmingham have devised a way of making stainless steel surfaces resistant to bacteria in a project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council which culminated this week.
By introducing silver or copper into the steel surface (rather than coating it on to the surface), the researchers have developed a technique that not only kills bacteria but is very hard and resistant to wear and tear during cleaning.
Bacteria resistant surfaces could be used in hospitals to prevent the spread of superbug infections on stainless steels surfaces, as well as in medical equipment, for example, instruments and implants. They would also be of use to the food industry and in domestic kitchens.
The team has developed a novel surface alloying technology using Active Screen Plasma (ASP) with a purpose designed composite or hybrid metal screen. The combined sputtering, back-deposition and diffusion allows the introduction of silver into a stainless steel surface, along with nitrogen and carbon. The silver acts as the bacteria killing agent and the nitrogen and carbon make the stainless steel much harder and durable.
The researchers replicated the cleaning process for medical instruments in hospitals. After cleaning the treated instruments 120 times they found that the antibacterial properties of the stainless steel were still intact and the surface still resistant to wear.
Hanshan Dong, Professor of Surface Engineering at the University of Birmingham and lead investigator, said: ‘Previous attempts to make stainless steel resistant to bacteria have not been successful as these have involved coatings which are too soft and not hard-wearing. Thin antibacterial coatings can be easily worn down when interacting with other surfaces, which leads to a low durability of the antibacterial surface. Our technique means that we avoid coating the surface, instead we modify the top layers of the surface.’
Professor Dong’s team are confident that this technique could be used in the manufacturing of stainless steel products as they are already able to surface engineer items of up to two metres x two metres in the laboratory.
Can transparent aluminum be far behind?
Simply utilising the oligodynamic effect exhibited by silver (as well as copper and a few other metals).
Brass doorknobs naturally disinfect themselves in about 12 hours.
I naturally assume brass balls do so as well.
Hanshan Dong..
Go figure.
Dr. Nichols still hasn’t figured out the dynamics of that matrix.
I think the real invention here is a way to get silver’s effect onto stainless steel in a way that it won’t rub off over time.
The funniest implementation of silver has been some guy in Japan who basically sewed silver fibers into underwear to reduce body odor.
Gas was a quarter a gallon and one of those will still buy a gallon.
U teh silly.
I like dat.
this is now a SOCK THREAD.
I foresee some remodeling at my employer (Big Pharma.) This will become an FDA mandate within five years of its commercial introduction. Bank on it.
> Can transparent aluminum be far behind?
Don’t know about aluminum, but ITO and IZO are both metals and transparent. They are used as conductive layers in display monitors.
To say nothing of hospitals. It'll cost them a fortune.
To say nothing of hospitals. It'll cost them a fortune.
The funniest implementation of silver has been some guy in Japan who basically sewed silver fibers into underwear to reduce body odor.
If we all wore silver-impregnated socks, we could wear them for several days before washing. Think of the positive environmental impact. /s
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