Epelle Emmanuel I, Cojuhari Neli, Mohamedsalih Abdalla, Macfarlane Andrew, Cusack Michael, Burns Anthony, McGinness Charles, Yaseen Mohammed
School of Computing, Engineering & Physical Sciences, University of the West of Scotland Paisley PA1 2BE UK
School of Engineering, Institute for Materials and Processes, The University of Edinburgh Sanderson Building, Robert Stevenson Road Edinburgh EH9 3FB UK.
RSC Adv. 2023 Jul 26;13(32):22593-22605. doi: 10.1039/d3ra03346e. eCollection 2023 Jul 19.
The microbiological safety of medical equipment and general surfaces is paramount to both the well-being of patients and the public. The application of ozone (a potent oxidant) has been recognised and implemented for this purpose, globally. However, it has primarily been utilised in the gaseous and aqueous forms. In this study, we investigate the potency of fine ozone mists and evaluate the synergistic effect when combined with cationic, anionic and non-ionic surfactants (dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide - DTAB, sodium dodecyl sulfate - SDS, alkyl polyglycoside - APG) as well as polyethylene glycol (PEG). Ozone mist is generated a nebuliser (equipped with a compressed gas stream) and the piezoelectric method; whereas fabric substrates contaminated with and are utilised in this study. Contamination levels on the fabric swatches are evaluated using agar dipslides. Compared to gaseous ozonation and aqueous ozonation ( nanobubble generation), the produced ozone mists showed significantly inferior antimicrobial properties for the tested conditions (6 ppm, 5-15 min). However, the hybrid mist-based application of 'ozone + surfactants' and 'ozone + PEG' showed considerable improvements compared to their independent applications (ozone mist only and surfactant mist only). The 'ozone + DTAB' mist had the highest activity, with better results observed with the micron-mist nebuliser than the piezoelectric transducer. We propose a likely mechanism for this synergistic performance (micellar encapsulation) and demonstrate the necessity for continued developments of novel decontamination technologies.
医疗设备和一般表面的微生物安全性对患者和公众的健康至关重要。为此，臭氧（一种强效氧化剂）的应用已在全球范围内得到认可和实施。然而，它主要以气态和液态形式使用。在本研究中，我们研究了细臭氧雾的效力，并评估了其与阳离子、阴离子和非离子表面活性剂（十二烷基三甲基溴化铵 - DTAB、十二烷基硫酸钠 - SDS、烷基糖苷 - APG）以及聚乙二醇（PEG）联合使用时的协同效应。臭氧雾通过雾化器（配备压缩气流）和压电方法产生；本研究使用被细菌和真菌污染的织物基材。使用琼脂浸片评估织物样本上的污染水平。与气态臭氧处理和液态臭氧处理（纳米气泡产生）相比，在所测试的条件（6 ppm，5 - 15分钟）下，产生的臭氧雾显示出明显较差的抗菌性能。然而，“臭氧 + 表面活性剂”和“臭氧 + PEG”的基于混合雾的应用与它们的单独应用（仅臭氧雾和仅表面活性剂雾）相比有显著改善。“臭氧 + DTAB”雾的活性最高，使用微米雾雾化器比压电换能器观察到更好的结果。我们提出了这种协同性能的可能机制（胶束包封），并证明了持续开发新型去污技术的必要性。
