An international team tests the bactericidal, fungicidal and antiviral properties of chitosan/α-Ag2WO4 synthesised with femtosecond laser irradiation

A research in which the team of the Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry of the Universitat Jaume I of Castellón has participated confirms the bactericidal, fungicidal and antiviral properties, especially in relation to SARS-CoV-2, of chitosan/α-Ag₂WO₄ composites synthesised with femtosecond laser irradiation. The research has been recently published in the journal Scientific Reports of the Nature group.

The article, entitled "Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by chitosan/α-Ag₂WO₄composite generated by femtosecond laser irradiation", has evaluated the effect of this type of composites in tests with Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria strains, with the fungus Candida albicans and with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease.

According to the researcher Juan Andrés from the Department of Physical and Analytical Chemistry at the UJI and director of the Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, results have shown that these composites are highly efficient bactericides, fungicidal materials and, in addition, have a high potential to inactivate SARS-COV-2.

"In the tests carried out, the composite chitosan/α-Ag₂WO₄/chitosan (CS6.6/α-Ag₂WO₄) has reduced the SARS-CoV-2 viral load by 80% in the controls, which is an excellent result", reveals the researcher. Another interesting aspect of these new materials, as Andrés points out, is the fact that they have "low cytotoxicity in tests carried out with up to 72 hours of exposure, which increases safety in the use of these new materials".

The researcher has indicated that "the results obtained indisputably attest to the importance that organic/semiconducting heterostructures must assume in frontier research and the development of new and innovative multifunctional materials". To this end, he explains, "we have used femtosecond irradiation in much of our research, which, in semiconductors, opens up new perspectives for materials science, since the 'defects' that are produced on the surface of the semiconductor exponentially increase its properties, also increasing its application possibilities".

The research has involved the participation of Carlos Doñate-Buendía and Gladys Mínguez-Vega from the Institute of New Imaging Technologies and the Department of Physics; Paula Pereira and Ivo Pinatti from the Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry; the Universität Wuppertal in Germany; the Centre for the Development of Functional Materials (CDMF) of the Federal University of Sao Carlos, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), and the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (COI-Fiocruz).

The results presented in this article are the fruit of the extensive network of alliances articulated by the public university of Castellón with research institutions of excellence in Europe and Brazil. "In this research, in particular, it is worth highlighting the participation of the COI team that carried out the tests and produced the images that reveal the action of this semiconductor in the elimination of viruses", Andrés emphasised.

Photograph: Schematic representation of biocidal activity of CS/α-Ag₂WO₄composite due to ROS generation.

Article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11902-5