Copper-carbon hybrid nanoparticles as antimicrobial additives

Millions of cases of hospital-acquired infections occur every year involving difficult to treat bacterial and fungal agents. In an effort to improve patient outcomes and provide better infection control, antimicrobial coatings are ideal to apply in clinical settings in addition to aseptic practices. Most efforts involving effective antimicrobial surface technologies are limited by toxicity of exposure due to the diffusion. Therefore, surface-immobilized antimicrobial agents are an ideal solution to infection control. Presented herein is a method of producing carbon-coated copper/copper oxide nanoparticles. Our findings demonstrate the potential for these particles to serve as antimicrobial additives.