- - The core activity of PROTECT is the manufacturing of the coating lines. Towards this objective, 3 pilot lines were designed, produced, and installed at three different end users - KLO, MAR and DEG on M24. The pre-commercial coating lines were designed with industrial capacity for treating fabrics, membranes and medical devices.
- Homogeneous antibacterial and antibiofilm waterborne nanoparticle coatings on hospital textiles, medical devices and water filtration membranes were achieved at process temperatures of up to 60ºC, and low reagent concentration, according to optimisation experiments.
- Customised antimicrobial nanoparticles for continuous and non-continuous coating processes were developed. The novel metal oxides, doped metal oxides, carbon dots, polymer, lipid and enzyme nanoparticles of PROTECT are efficient antimicrobial alternatives to the conventional antibiotics, with low probability for resistance development. Following a safe-by-design approach, antibacterial nanoparticles and coated materials with enhanced efficacy coupled to reduced toxicity toward human cells were developed. Nanoparticle probes, sensitive to bacterial metabolism, were embedded on medical textiles as indicators for the durability of the antimicrobial effect.
- A spectroscopy-based pushbroom imaging (PBI) technology for in-situ monitoring of the nanoparticle concentration, size, colloidal stability and coating quality was integrated in all pre-commercial lines. The PBI data were used to increase the robustness and repeatability of the coating processes, and the quality of the end products. The developed Human Machine Interface (HMI) allowed for in-situ monitoring and automation of the coating technologies.
- Potential environmental and health risks during the production of NP-coated antibacterial materials were identified and considered in the design of the pre-commercial pilot lines. The techniques for monitoring NPs in the environment, the biological models and toxicity assays, and the tests for potential occurrence of bacterial resistance to the newly developed antimicrobial products, were defined. Criteria for estimating different categories of risk related to hazard and exposure to NPs were adopted for each pilot, and actions to minimise the risk were proposed. Preliminary results suggested negligible inhalation exposure to NPs at the workplace during the sonochemical coating processes.
- The assessment methodology for the environmental sustainability and cost effectiveness was defined for all the processing techniques and for the targeted applications. The reference unit for environmental and economic sustainability as well as the scope of the life cycle assessment and life cycle costing were defined.
