Oral: Emerging Nano Materials for Disease Management and Insights from Findings in Nano-based Diagnostics
6-S
Nano material development, industry technology and status, safety approvals for use as fungicides/bactericides.
S. SANTRA (1), S. Santra (1) (1) University of Central Florida, U.S.A.
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Copper (Cu) bactericides/fungicides are aggressively used in the agriculture industry in the U.S and worldwide on many crops. There is an increasing concern of Cu accumulation in field soil and Cu leaching potential into the surrounding ecosystem. Moreover, development of bacterial resistance to Cu is a serious concern. While there are no effective alternatives to Cu, strategies for improving the efficacy using nanotechnology is a possibility that is minimally explored. To improve efficacy, we developed and characterized mixed valence (MV) Cu loaded silica nanogel and core-shell (C-S) Cu nanoparticle material. It is hypothesized that MV Cu system, specifically enriched with Cu (0) and Cu(I) will exhibit enhanced antimicrobial efficacy over traditional Cu (II) compounds. In another design, an inert particulate silica core was coated with a shell of MV-Cu loaded silica nanogel to produce the C-S Cu. MV-Cu and C-S Cu served as a combination of soluble and insoluble Cu compounds. Both materials were non-phytotoxic and exhibited comparable rainfastness against industry control Kocide 3000 when tested in vitro. The minimum inhibitory concentration values for the MV Cu and C-S Cu formulations were found to be significantly lower than the Kocide®3000 control. This presentation will focus on the development of MV-Cu and C-S Cu bactericide formulations and challenges towards developing a commercially-viable Cu formulation and approaches to minimize regulatory challenges.