Scientists at the University of Coimbra (UC) in the north of Portugal said that they had developed a varnish that kills even the most resistant bacteria in just 15 minutes, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
The objective of their research is to find "a safe and effective solution to prevent and combat hospital infections," the UC said in a statement.
"This new intelligent varnish has high antimicrobial efficacy, which is activated by white light that is harmless to humans," the scientists said.
The findings of their research were published in the scientific journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces and financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education and Science of Portugal.
The scientists have developed and tested a new generation of cationic polymers with antimicrobial properties against various species of bacteria and combined them with a photosensitizer based on a vegetable compound of curcumin.
"When we combined them under the action of white light, these two compounds reduced the number of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria a thousand times, such as, for example, from Escherichia coli (also known as E.coli), eliminating them effectively and safely," the UC statement said.
According to the project coordinators, this formulation "incorporates these two compounds in a polyurethane-based industrial formulation varnish, using industrial conditions, giving the varnish innovative antibacterial functionality, thus facilitating its introduction to the market."
The Portuguese scientists say that this new varnish provides "an effective and safe solution for the prevention and control of infections contracted in hospitals, as it prevents the proliferation of bacteria on surfaces."