Sprayable Antibacterial Film: A Nanosilver Composite
TEAM: Nathan Cloeter, Luis Correa, Benjamin Lee, Matt Reilly, Mercedes Valero

ABSTRACT: Recent studies suggest that cell phones are one of the surfaces with the most bacteria we encounter in our day, where it was shown that 1 in 6 cellphones are contaminated with fecal matter (Song). Silver nanoparticles have been shown to be highly efficient antibacterial nanoparticles, largely due to the oxidation and release of silver ions (Ferrer, Guo). Composite materials with antibacterial polymers and silver nanoparticles expand the applications of silver nanoparticles for antibacterial purposes, especially because they can be used as coatings for a variety of applications. These composites are beneficial because the nanoparticles can prevent bacterial growth while the polymer can prevent bacterial adhesion. This design takes advantage of the inherent antibacterial properties of chitosan, a polysaccharide extracted from shrimp shells, and the silver nanoparticles to produce a chitosan based polymeric coating with enhanced antibacterial properties. In the design, the properties of the sprayable solution, the nanoparticle formation kinetics and the film properties were studied. We also report on the results from the preliminary prototyping and antibacterial testing of films designed to be applied to the Aluminum back of the iPhone 5.