Intelligent, Antibacterial, and Durable Hybrid Coatings (IADHC)

PROJECT COST:

283 019 $

PRIMA CONTRIBUTION:

130 669 $

PROJECT DETAILS:

The development of materials capable of combating the spread of resistant pathogens is of critical importance for ensuring global biosafety. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the sudden surge in demand for alcohol-based cleaning products created major regulatory and distribution challenges, which in turn affected national contingency measures throughout the crisis. To address this challenge and to better prepare industry for future events, the development of new protective coatings is essential.

The technology to be developed within this collaborative project, led by Prof. Xavier Banquy at the Université de Montréal, will enable the preparation of non-volatile coatings with long-lasting antimicrobial properties. The polymeric material designed to achieve these properties will be evaluated in diverse contexts to broaden its range of applications. This international collaboration between Quebec and South Korea will provide the industrial partners, Galenova and ACE&E, with a novel technology that can be rapidly applied either to object surfaces or directly to human skin, thereby delivering potent antibacterial effects.

The replacement of highly volatile, short-lived cleaning products holds major economic and strategic importance at the international level. Companies such as Galenova and ACE&E, which rely heavily on these products for the preparation of their commercial formulations, face an urgent need for non-toxic surface coatings with long-lasting effects. The outcomes of this project will benefit both society and the industrial partners by providing safer materials. Furthermore, the project will contribute to the training of two master’s students and two postdoctoral fellows.