Antimicrobial nanocellulosic matrices and coatings

Waste root vegetables could help stop microbes growing on medical implants.

Introduction

Biofilms are dense coatings of microbes. They come in many varieties and may be recognised most readily as dental plaque or as bacterial slime found everywhere from industrial pipes to boat hulls, as well as on medical implants. Removing them is often essential, as they are a major source of difficult to treat infections (in the case of hospital and food industry sectors), but also are responsible for the fouling of industrial pipelines and maritime structures, leading to costly blockages and corrosion. Biofilms are very difficult to remove, but this project led by CelluComp and The James Hutton Institute successfully developed novel materials made from waste root vegetables which is highly effective in killing and removing biofilms.

Challenge

Microbial biofilms are coatings of microbes which are difficult to eliminate since the thick adhesive slime may shield the biofilm against antibiotics, detergents, heat and abrasion. New approaches for biofilm removal are essential, and CelluComp who produces nanocellulose matrices and slurries from waste root vegetables partnered with The James Hutton Institute to see if novel anti-biofilm/anti-bacterial agents and possibly anti-virals could be produced from these waste vegetable materials.

Solution

IBioIC awarded £64k to a project by CelluComp and The James Hutton Institute to establish whether CelluComp’s materials could be functionalised to create products which exhibit antimicrobial activity and stop biofilms forming.

The project team produced a range of functionalised microfibrillated cellulose materials, and testing proved their ability to remove established biofilms. The team then successfully created stable hybrid metallised/protein modified nanocellulosic composites which possess dual functionality for enhanced killing of microbes and disruption of biofilms. These composite materials were also shown to possess high levels of anti-viral activity, with kill rates up to 99.99% against a broad range of viruses.

Outcome

The IBioIC funded project produced completely new anti-bacterial, anti-biofilm and anti-viral materials and led to Innovate UK funding for a collaboration between CelluComp, The Hutton and Halley Stevensons - a Dundee based company producing coated fabrics which has access to broad end user markets such as clothing and furnishings. This project resulted in new anti-viral facemask materials of utility against Covid-19.