A team formed by scientists at the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), and the Corning corporation have come up with a process to create nearly bacteria-proof touchscreens. In creating what they call a “transparent nanostructured copper surface,” (TANCS) researchers were able to take advantage of the known antibacterial qualities of copper while eliminating its chief drawbacks.
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While copper has been used for its antibacterial properties for quite some time, its use in display technology is limited due to its electrical conductivity. In developing TANCS, the team used rapid thermal annealing to keep the desired qualities of a copper coating, while making that coating transparent as well as non-conductive. According to a study published in the journal Communications Materials, tests of treated displays saw the coating kill 99.9% of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria that was applied to it within two hours.
“While further development is necessary for full-fledged commercial deployment, this is a step in the right direction to enable antimicrobial touchscreens for public or personal displays,” says study co-author and Corning researcher Prantik Mazumder.
