Field-deployable antimicrobial surface products for gas/air and liquid/water purification and methods of fabrication of the same
Despite the existence and deployment of a range of antimicrobial/disinfectant/sterilization technologies and products, transmission of infectious diseases remains a significant problem worldwide, continuing to cause hundreds of millions of infections and millions of deaths every year of both human beings and animals. State-of-the-art technologies suffer from several disadvantages including being discrete in space and time, being overly dependent on human skill and discipline, and in some cases having harmful side-effects to human health. This invention proposes a series of industrial grade antimicrobial product designs, and materials and methods to make them highly effective products that offer continuous antimicrobial action, with minimum dependence on human discipline and skill once deployed, and with no harmful side-effects. Methods may include either or both first and second materials be formed by vapor or solution-based coating schemes and many may be antimicrobial in nature. Nanopores and/or nanotubes produce an ultra-high anti-microbially active surface area.
1 . A method of forming a high surface area antimicrobial material, the method comprising:
providing a substrate,
wherein said substrate is configured as a tile or a mesh;
forming a first material on top of or within at least one surface of said substrate,
wherein said first material is formed by a solution-based coating,
wherein said first material comprises nanotubes and/or nanopores, and
wherein said nanotubes and/or nanopores are substantially all open on one end only;
forming a second material,
wherein said second material is disposed on greater than 50% of the interior surfaces of said nanotubes and/or nanopores,
wherein said second material is formed by a vapor-phase coating process,
wherein said second material is antimicrobial,
wherein said second material inactivates biological microorganisms in gases and liquids upon physical contact,
wherein said second material is not consumed by said inactivates, and
wherein said first material is titanium dioxide, or zinc oxide, or tungsten oxide; and
an anneal,
wherein said anneal is performed after said second material is formed.
2 . The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein said substrate compromises a metal,
wherein said solution-based coating is anodization of said metal.
3 . The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein said first material comprises at least one antimicrobial material.
4 . The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein said substrate is configured as a rectangular shape.
5 . The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein said second material comprises at least one composite film of antimicrobial semiconducting materials and antimicrobial metals, and
wherein said anneal is performed after said second material is formed.
6 . The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein said second material is at least one of the following:
i. copper, Cu; or
ii. silver, Ag; or
iii. titanium dioxide, TiO 2 (doped or undoped); or
iv. titanium sub-oxides, TiO(2-x), or
v. zinc oxide, ZnO (doped or undoped); or
vi. tungsten oxide, WO 3 ; or
vii tungsten sub-oxides, WO(3-x).
7 . The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein said second material is deposited using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and/or Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).
8 . A method of forming a high surface area antimicrobial material, the method comprising:
providing a substrate,
wherein said substrate is configured as a tile or a mesh;
forming a first material on top of or within at least one surface of said substrate,
wherein said first material is formed by a first solution-based coating,
wherein said first material comprises nanotubes and/or nanopores, and
wherein said nanotubes and/or nanopores are substantially all open on one end only;
forming a second material,
wherein said second material is disposed on greater than 50% of the interior surfaces of said nanotubes and/or nanopores,
wherein said second material is antimicrobial,
wherein said second material inactivates biological microorganisms in gases and liquids upon physical contact,
wherein said second material is not consumed by said inactivates,
wherein said first material is titanium dioxide, or zinc oxide, or aluminum oxide, or tungsten oxide, and
wherein said second material is formed by a second solution-based coating; and
an anneal,
wherein said anneal is performed after said first material is formed, and/or after said second material is formed.
9 . The method according to claim 8 ,
wherein said substrate compromises a metal,
wherein said first solution-based coating is anodization of said metal.
10 . The method according to claim 8 ,
wherein said first material comprises at least one antimicrobial material.
11 . The method according to claim 8 ,
wherein said substrate is configured as a rectangular shape.
12 . The method according to claim 8 ,
wherein said second material comprises at least one composite film of antimicrobial semiconducting materials and antimicrobial metals, and
wherein said anneal is performed after said second material is formed.
13 . The method according to claim 8 ,
wherein said second material comprise mixtures or alloys of at least one of the following:
i. copper, Cu; or
ii. silver, Ag; or
iii. titanium, Ti: or
iv. zinc, Zn; or
v. tungsten, W.
14 . The method according to claim 8 ,
wherein said second material compromises a metal,
wherein said second solution-based coating comprises
electroplating/electrodeposition of said metal.
15 . A method of forming a high surface area antimicrobial material, the method comprising:
providing a substrate,
wherein said substrate is configured as a tile or a mesh;
forming a first material on top of or within at least one surface of said substrate by vapor-phase methods; and then
converting said first material by use of a solution-based conversion,
wherein said solution-based conversion comprises anodization,
wherein after said solution-based conversion of said first material, said first material comprises nanotubes and/or nanopores, and
wherein said nanotubes and/or nanopores are substantially all open on one end only;
forming a second material,
wherein said second material is disposed on greater than 50% of the interior surfaces of said nanotubes and/or nanopores,
wherein said second material is formed by a vapor-phase coating process,
wherein said second material is antimicrobial,
wherein said second material inactivates biological microorganisms in gases and liquids upon physical contact,
wherein said second material is not consumed by said inactivates, and
wherein said first material is titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or aluminum oxide, or tungsten oxide; and
an anneal,
wherein said anneal is performed after said first material is formed, and/or said second material is formed.
16 . The method according to claim 15 ,
wherein after said solution-based conversion of said first material, said first material comprises at least one antimicrobial material.
17 . The method according to claim 15 ,
wherein said substrate is configured as a rectangular shape.
18 . The method according to claim 15 ,
wherein said second material comprises at least one composite film of antimicrobial semiconducting materials and antimicrobial metals, and
wherein said anneal is performed after said second material is formed.
19 . The method according to claim 15 ,
wherein said second material is at least one of the following:
i. copper, Cu; or
ii. silver, Ag; or
iii. titanium dioxide, TiO 2 (doped or undoped); or
iv. titanium sub-oxides, TiO(2-x), or
v. zinc oxide, ZnO (doped or undoped); or
vi. tungsten oxide, WO 3 ; or
vii tungsten sub-oxides, WO(3-x).
20 . The method according to claim 15 ,
wherein said first material and/or said second material is deposited using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and/or Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).