Imagine a world where you don’t need to constantly sanitize your hands after touching surfaces, like during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s exactly the problem Postdoctoral Fellow Saeed Ataie (Schafer group), set out to solve.
Polyethylene, the world’s most commonly used plastic, covers everything from tables to door handles. In the study, Ataie and researches found a way to improve this plastic by adding special nitrogen-based groups called amines in an eco-friendly way. Then, with a simple step, they turned those groups into ammoniums—tiny particles known for their ability to kill bacteria and germs.
As a result, an antibacterial plastic was created that could be used on everyday surfaces, helping to stop the spread of germs without needing constant sanitizing.