Abstract
Researchers in the USA have recently shown that chemical modification of the surfaces of glass slides can impart them with effective antimicrobial properties (10.1073/pnas.111143098). Glass slides were acylated and then copolymerized with 4-vinylpyridine. N-alkylated poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PVP) chains, of varying lengths, were then attached to these prepared surfaces and sprayed with suspensions of airborne bacteria. In a manner dependent on the length of the attached alkyl bromide chains, the slides killed up to 94% of Staphylococcus aureus cells on contact. On surfaces modified with N-hexylated poly(4-vinylpyridine), the modification that was most effective against Staphylococcus aureus, the numbers of viable Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli were reduced more than 100-fold compared with those on unalkylated slides. In contrast to the treated glass slides, common materials such as ceramics, plastics, metals and wood had no antimicrobial activity towards the airborne bacteria.
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