Virucidal and Bactericidal Properties of Biocompatible Copper Textiles

Andrei‐Florin Sandu; Sofya Danilova; Lauren Acton; Andrew Cobley; Phillip Gould

doi:10.1002/gch2.202400346

Virucidal and Bactericidal Properties of Biocompatible Copper Textiles

Andrei‐Florin Sandu, Sofya Danilova, Lauren Acton, Andrew Cobley, Phillip Gould

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

12 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the global threat posed by emerging viruses, emphasizing the critical need for effective strategies to combat pathogen transmission. Moreover, alongside emerging viruses, the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance further reinforces the need to develop novel methods for infection control. Anti-pathogenic coatings on textiles offer a promising solution; in this study, three electroless copper-plated fabrics are evaluated for their antipathogenic properties following International Standards Organisation (ISO) standards. Prior to electroless plating, materials are activated either by immersion in a Pd catalyst solution (material A) or by ink-jet printing Cu/Ag catalyst along the weft (material B) or warp thread (material C). This study demonstrates that activation method influences the materials antipathogenic performance, with all materials achieving complete bactericidal/fungicidal neutralization within 30 min of incubation. Material B exhibits up to 4-log virucidal effects within 1 h against viruses such as coronavirus (OC43, 229E), Influenza A (H1N1), and Rotavirus A. Furthermore, biocompatibility testing indicates that material B exhibited low in vitro cytotoxicity. Textile B demonstrates strong antibacterial results even after one year of accelerated aging with no significant difference (P = 0.74) in efficiency against MRSA, highlighting promising applications for infection control in clinical settings reducing pathogen transmission, nosocomial infections and the associated economic burden.

Original language	English
Article number	2400346
Number of pages	16
Journal	Global Challenges
Volume	9
Issue number	3
Early online date	27 Jan 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/gch2.202400346
Publication status	Published - 10 Mar 2025

Bibliographical note

© 2025 The Author(s). Global Challenges published by Wiley-VCH GmbH

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Centre of Health and Life Sciences for their valuable technical support. They also extend their thanks to the Functional Materials group at Coventry University for generously providing access to the metalized samples used in this study. The ink-jet-based method of textile metalization employed in sample preparation was developed under the MATUROLIFE project, supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant No. 760789). The methodology and testing conducted in this research were supported by Coventry University's COVID-19 studentship funding. Special acknowledgements are due to the supervisory team, Dr. Mark C Turner for his assistance with confocal training and Dr. Jess Rollason for internal reviewing and support. Extended gratitude to Sara Anisi and Antonia Sedgwick for their invaluable peer feedback. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Centre of Health and Life Sciences for their valuable technical support. They also extend their thanks to the Functional Materials group at Coventry University for generously providing access to the metalized samples used in this study. The ink\u2010jet\u2010based method of textile metalization employed in sample preparation was developed under the MATUROLIFE project, supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant No. 760789). The methodology and testing conducted in this research were supported by Coventry University's COVID\u201019 studentship funding. Special acknowledgements are due to the supervisory team, Dr. Mark C Turner for his assistance with confocal training and Dr. Jess Rollason for internal reviewing and support. Extended gratitude to Sara Anisi and Antonia Sedgwick for their invaluable peer feedback.

Funders	Funder number
Coventry University
Horizon Europe	760789

Keywords

bactericidal
biocompatible copper textile
electroless copper plating on textile
global health and healthcare
virucidal

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

Access to Document

10.1002/gch2.202400346Licence: CC BY

Sandu2025VorFinal published version, 6.51 MB

Cite this

@article{745cd8b53ff5436fa18e8924d8e64de6,

title = "Virucidal and Bactericidal Properties of Biocompatible Copper Textiles",

abstract = "The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the global threat posed by emerging viruses, emphasizing the critical need for effective strategies to combat pathogen transmission. Moreover, alongside emerging viruses, the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance further reinforces the need to develop novel methods for infection control. Anti-pathogenic coatings on textiles offer a promising solution; in this study, three electroless copper-plated fabrics are evaluated for their antipathogenic properties following International Standards Organisation (ISO) standards. Prior to electroless plating, materials are activated either by immersion in a Pd catalyst solution (material A) or by ink-jet printing Cu/Ag catalyst along the weft (material B) or warp thread (material C). This study demonstrates that activation method influences the materials antipathogenic performance, with all materials achieving complete bactericidal/fungicidal neutralization within 30 min of incubation. Material B exhibits up to 4-log virucidal effects within 1 h against viruses such as coronavirus (OC43, 229E), Influenza A (H1N1), and Rotavirus A. Furthermore, biocompatibility testing indicates that material B exhibited low in vitro cytotoxicity. Textile B demonstrates strong antibacterial results even after one year of accelerated aging with no significant difference (P = 0.74) in efficiency against MRSA, highlighting promising applications for infection control in clinical settings reducing pathogen transmission, nosocomial infections and the associated economic burden.",

keywords = "bactericidal, biocompatible copper textile, electroless copper plating on textile, global health and healthcare, virucidal",

author = "Andrei‐Florin Sandu and Sofya Danilova and Lauren Acton and Andrew Cobley and Phillip Gould",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). Global Challenges published by Wiley-VCH GmbH This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.",

year = "2025",

month = mar,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1002/gch2.202400346",

language = "English",

volume = "9",

journal = "Global Challenges",

issn = "2056-6646",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Virucidal and Bactericidal Properties of Biocompatible Copper Textiles

AU - Sandu, Andrei‐Florin

AU - Danilova, Sofya

AU - Acton, Lauren

AU - Cobley, Andrew

AU - Gould, Phillip

N1 - © 2025 The Author(s). Global Challenges published by Wiley-VCH GmbH This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

PY - 2025/3/10

Y1 - 2025/3/10

N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the global threat posed by emerging viruses, emphasizing the critical need for effective strategies to combat pathogen transmission. Moreover, alongside emerging viruses, the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance further reinforces the need to develop novel methods for infection control. Anti-pathogenic coatings on textiles offer a promising solution; in this study, three electroless copper-plated fabrics are evaluated for their antipathogenic properties following International Standards Organisation (ISO) standards. Prior to electroless plating, materials are activated either by immersion in a Pd catalyst solution (material A) or by ink-jet printing Cu/Ag catalyst along the weft (material B) or warp thread (material C). This study demonstrates that activation method influences the materials antipathogenic performance, with all materials achieving complete bactericidal/fungicidal neutralization within 30 min of incubation. Material B exhibits up to 4-log virucidal effects within 1 h against viruses such as coronavirus (OC43, 229E), Influenza A (H1N1), and Rotavirus A. Furthermore, biocompatibility testing indicates that material B exhibited low in vitro cytotoxicity. Textile B demonstrates strong antibacterial results even after one year of accelerated aging with no significant difference (P = 0.74) in efficiency against MRSA, highlighting promising applications for infection control in clinical settings reducing pathogen transmission, nosocomial infections and the associated economic burden.

AB - The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the global threat posed by emerging viruses, emphasizing the critical need for effective strategies to combat pathogen transmission. Moreover, alongside emerging viruses, the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance further reinforces the need to develop novel methods for infection control. Anti-pathogenic coatings on textiles offer a promising solution; in this study, three electroless copper-plated fabrics are evaluated for their antipathogenic properties following International Standards Organisation (ISO) standards. Prior to electroless plating, materials are activated either by immersion in a Pd catalyst solution (material A) or by ink-jet printing Cu/Ag catalyst along the weft (material B) or warp thread (material C). This study demonstrates that activation method influences the materials antipathogenic performance, with all materials achieving complete bactericidal/fungicidal neutralization within 30 min of incubation. Material B exhibits up to 4-log virucidal effects within 1 h against viruses such as coronavirus (OC43, 229E), Influenza A (H1N1), and Rotavirus A. Furthermore, biocompatibility testing indicates that material B exhibited low in vitro cytotoxicity. Textile B demonstrates strong antibacterial results even after one year of accelerated aging with no significant difference (P = 0.74) in efficiency against MRSA, highlighting promising applications for infection control in clinical settings reducing pathogen transmission, nosocomial infections and the associated economic burden.

KW - bactericidal

KW - biocompatible copper textile

KW - electroless copper plating on textile

KW - global health and healthcare

KW - virucidal

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=86000428488&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/gch2.202400346

DO - 10.1002/gch2.202400346

M3 - Article

SN - 2056-6646

VL - 9

JO - Global Challenges

JF - Global Challenges

IS - 3

M1 - 2400346

ER -

Virucidal and Bactericidal Properties of Biocompatible Copper Textiles

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this