The Truth About Antimicrobial Coatings
The growth of the antimicrobial coatings industry has only been accelerated by the Coronavrius pandemic, with sanitisation in public spaces now a higher priority than ever before.
Many public spaces have adopted additional sanitisation procedures, sometimes including the deployment of antimicrobial surface coatings. The ongoing increased focus on hygiene is likely to continue as we globally work towards creating safe, welcoming environments for people to feel comfortable and protected in.
While the coatings do provide additional protection from certain harmful bacteria, it’s important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of certain technologies, the way that they work and how their deployment can help keep us safe.
What are antimicrobial coatings?
Antimicrobial coatings are typically applied to surfaces and fabrics to inhibit the growth of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi and viruses. Alongside application to physical surfaces, they can be integrated into the chemical makeup of materials to create a climate that would be uninhabitable for those harmful microbes.
The uses for antimicrobial surface coatings vary massively. Primarily, they were initially used in healthcare settings in an attempt to reduce Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs). The coatings are now increasingly deployed in other public settings including retail, hospitality, workspaces and even as part of the filters for HVAC vents.
The coatings are at their most effective when applied to high contact surfaces such as door handles, cash machines, countertops and shopping equipment.
Do they work and what are the limitations?
The efficacy of a antimicrobial surface protection depends on a number of factors, including the technology used, the quality of the application and the durability of the product itself.
Many leading coatings are successful in inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria but due to the technology used, are unable to provide long-lasting or fast-acting protection.
Existing technologies generally use silver or copper-based particles to kill viruses and bacteria. These can take hours to produce a significant antiviral or antimicrobial effect and in some cases only last a limited time (typically 30-60 days).
It’s clear that the ideal solution for stopping the spread of infection and harmful pathogens needs to be rapid acting and ultra durable.
How are CodiKoat coatings different?
CodiKoat’s GoVirol antimicrobial coating could revolutionise the industry as it continues to break new ground on what was previously possible.
Our GoVirol acetate-film coating is ISO certified and was proven to kill 90% of human coronavirus particles within 2 seconds of contact time, and was over 99% effective within just 10 seconds. Alongside its antimicrobial and antifungal properties, to our knowledge, this makes it the fastest antiviral surface protection of its type in the world.
The stark improvement on existing technologies is down to our groundbreaking engineering, while the nature of the nanostructures used in CodiKoat technology leads to high durability, meaning the protection lasts for the whole product lifetime.
The high flexibility of our antimicrobial and antiviral technology means that it can be easily adhered to any surface or material, either retrospectively or as part of the manufacturing process. Our existing developments include Virufab, our antiviral surgical face mask, and CodiVent, a revolutionary air filtration product that traps and kills harmful microbes, viruses and bacteria including COVID-19.
Why use antimicrobial coatings?
The benefits of deploying the right technology are clear. In healthcare settings, a rapid acting, durable coating could help lower the risks of touch-based virus transmission. The CDC has estimated that everyday around 1 in 31 patients in US hospitals contract an HAI (Hospital Acquired Infection), with the care for those patients costing billions per year.
Reducing the overall transmission of those infections would help enable healthcare facilities and staff to dedicate their valuable resources to other causes. The low-maintenance, long-lasting properties of CodiKoat’s coating also reduces the amount of upkeep required, making it incredibly cost effective.
The potential environmental impact of a long-lasting, high performing coating should also not be understated. By reducing the amount of heavy chemicals required as part of the sanitisation process, not only is it good for the environment but also better for personal health and wellbeing.
While antimicrobial coatings do not replace traditional hygiene and sanitisation practices, they are able to supplement them and can help mitigate the risk of surface contamination and viral transmission.
In the midst of an ongoing global health crisis, this could be invaluable for delivering long term, cost-efficient protection and returning to normality for certain industries including retail, hospitality, public transport and office based working.
To find out more about our antimicrobial and antiviral coating, contact us here.