search and due to inventive contribution
by Tata employees, Tata Steel also has certain rights to the technology.
“Tata Steel has always displayed leadership in motivating innovative research
and product development by leveraging
partnerships with universities. UB has
been one of our choices for cutting-edge
coatings technology development on steel
substrate,” said Debashish Bhattacharjee,
Tata Steel’s group director for research,
development and technology.
“The development of an environmen-
tally friendly alternative to hexavalent
chromium would truly revolutionize this
sector,” said Anahita Williamson, PhD, di-
rector of the New York State Pollution
Prevention Institute (NYSP2I), a research
and technology transfer center funded by
the New York State Department of Envi-
ronmental Conservation. “The metals
plating industry identified this as a high-
priority research project and NYSP2I is
excited to support UB researchers in their
efforts to develop solutions.”
The New York State Pollution Preven-
tion Institute, headquartered at Rochester
Institute of Technology (RIT), is a part-
nership between RIT, Clarkson University,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, UB and
the state’s network of Regional Technol-
ogy Development Centers.
Banerjee, a materials chemist, has
worked closely with industry and STOR
to commercialize his research since joining UB in 2007.
In addition to his work on graphene,
Banerjee has spoken to companies in the
building materials industry about his research on vanadium oxide, a synthetic
compound that could be used in “smart”
windows that reflect heat from the sun
only on hot days.
“UB 2020, our university’s long-range
plan, asks faculty to take an active role in
translational research, and our rust-proofing project is an example of research that
benefits communities on both a global and
local scale,” Banerjee said.
Researchers develop a coating
for biomedical products that
kills bacteria without
antibiotics
The superbugs have met their match. Con-
ceived at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), it comes in the form of a coating, which has a magnetic-like feature that
attracts bacteria and kills them without
the need for antibiotics.
The killer coating, which has shown to
destroy 99 percent of the bacteria and
fungi that it comes in contact with, is now
being used by two companies: a contact
lens manufacturer and a company specializing in animal care products.
The next step is to extend its use in a
wide range of biomedical and consumer
products, ranging from implants and surgical instruments to kitchen utensils and
cutlery, as it is harmless to human cells.
This is an alternative solution, which
could replace antibiotics - currently the
main defense against bacteria.
The brainchild of Professor Mary
Chan, Acting Chair of NTU’s School of
Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, the
coating made from Dimethyldecylammo-nium Chitosan methacrylate has earned a
place in the prestigious international journal, Nature Materials.
This “sponge-like” polymer holds a
positive charge, which acts as a magnet-type of force to draw in bacteria, which
has a negative charge on their cell walls.
When the bacterium comes in contact
with the coating, the cell walls are ‘sucked’
into the nanopores, causing the cell to
rupture, thus killing the bacterium.
“The coating can also be applied on
biomedical objects, such as catheters and
implants to prevent bacterial infections,
which is a serious cause of concern as
many bacteria are now developing resist-
ance to antibiotics - currently our main
source of treatment for infections,” Prof.
Chan said. “By developing novel materi-
als which uses physical interaction to kill
bacteria cells, we envisage this can be an
alternative form of treatment for bacter-
ial infections in the near future.”
Superbugs which had fallen prey to the
coating include Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
which can cause infections in the upper
respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract and
the urinary tract; and Staphylococcus au-
reus, which can cause infections ranging
from skin boils or abscesses to deadly dis-
eases such as pneumonia and meningitis.
This research for a broad-spectrum an-
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