Objective
Antibacterial coatings represent a huge market in healthcare and food sectors.CuVito brings together Mexican mining products and European product development, to produce a state-of-the-art copper nano-structured coating. Bacteria in hospitals present a major health issue.The effectiveness of cleaning is considerably enhanced on smooth, scratch-free surfaces.Anti-bacterial silver coatings are available; however they are not used in hospitals due to cost, effectiveness and durability.Copper offers a low cost, effective and environmentally friendly solution that could be readily adopted. The challenge is to retain copper nano-particles in a structure that provides antibacterial functionality, but prevents leaching.The CuVito consortium believes that the silsesquioxane structure, formed using Vitolane technology is the answer.
Silsesquioxanes have the formula RSiO1.5 (where R is an organic ligand), and form cage or ladder structures.They confer hardness and abrasion resistance to coatings and, by selecting appropriate R groups (e.g. acrylate, glycidoxy) can chemically bond to the organic resin in the formulation controlling cross-link density to enhance durability.Hence silsesquioxanes are inherently suited to use in coatings for surfaces which require regular cleaning.Silsesquioxanes have been available for some years but at a prohibitively high cost, due to the complexity of manufacture.Vitolane technology is an alternative, cost effective production route which has been patented and is currently being scaled up commercially.It has a unique processing feature in allowing simple selection of R groups and it is proposed to use this to bond directly to the copper nanoparticles, resolving the issue of leaching.The objectives of the project of the project are:
1.Develop a copper nano-particle production process
2.Functionalise silsesquioxanes with copper using Vitolane technology
3.Produce a commercially acceptable coating
4.Validate coating in a hospital environment
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry transition metals
- engineering and technology materials engineering coating and films
- engineering and technology nanotechnology nano-materials
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-NMP-2010-EU-Mexico
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
CB21 6AL Cambridge
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.