Bacterial Killing by Dry Metallic Copper Surfaces

Abstract

Metallic copper surfaces rapidly and efficiently kill bacteria. Cells exposed to copper surfaces accumulated large amounts of copper ions, and this copper uptake was faster from dry copper than from moist copper. Cells suffered extensive membrane damage within minutes of exposure to dry copper. Further, cells removed from copper showed loss of cell integrity. Acute contact with metallic copper surfaces did not result in increased mutation rates or DNA lesions. These findings are important first steps for revealing the molecular sensitive targets in cells lethally challenged by exposure to copper surfaces and provide a scientific explanation for the use of copper surfaces as antimicrobial agents for supporting public hygiene.

New evidence for Cu-decorated binary-oxides mediating bacterial inactivation/mineralization in aerobic media

“…Fig. 5, traces (1), (2) show similar bacterial inactivation kinetics under light doses of 50 mW/cm 2 and 70 mW/cm 2 . This suggests a saturation effect by the bacterial culture for the incident photons.…”

“…Preparation of binary oxides films by sputtering, quantitative analysis of the film content by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and CO 2 …”

“…Cu-cell have been shown to damage the cell envelope through the release of Cu-ions. [2]. Recent work has shed light on mechanistic aspects of contact killing.…”

Insight into the catalyst/photocatalyst microstructure presenting the same composition but leading to a variance in bacterial reduction under indoor visible light

“…Cu-ions reveal efficient antimicrobial activity degrading membrane/LPS layers [1,14,17,18,23,56]. Espirito-Santo [21,22] and Lemire et al [57] have recently reported bacterial inactivation on Cu surfaces. Results presented in Fig.…”

“…Recent results have reported by Pillai et al [18][19][20], Espirito-Santo et al [21,22], Borkow et al [23,24], Liu et al [25], Dionysiou et al [26,27] and Bahneman et al [28] for disinfection on surfaces energized by solar irradiation. Because of its unique electronic structure, magnetic and optical properties, Cu 2 O has been used in catalysis/photocatalysis [29] and in solar energy conversion into electrical energy [30][31][32].…”