Advances in Nanoarchitectonics of Antimicrobial Tiles and a Quest for Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Tiles

Abstract

Design of antimicrobial tiles seems necessary to combat against contagious diseases, especially COVID-19. In addition to personal hygiene, this technology facilitates public hygiene as antimicrobial tiles can be installed at hospitals, schools, banks, offices, lobbies, railway stations, etc. This review is primarily focused on preparing antimicrobial tiles using an antimicrobial layer or coatings that fight against germs. The salient features and working mechanisms of antimicrobial tiles are highlighted. This challenge is a component of the exploratory nature of nanoarchitectonics, that also extends farther than the realm of nanotechnology. This nanoarchitectonics has been successful at the laboratory scale as antimicrobial metal nanoparticles are mainly used as additives in preparing tiles. A detailed description of various materials for developing unique antimicrobial tiles is reported here. Pure metal (Ag, Zn) nanoparticles and a mixture of nanoparticles with other inorganic materials (SiO_2,, TiO₂, anatase, nepheline) have been predominantly used to combat microbes. The developed antimicrobial tiles have shown excellent activity against a wide range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The last section discussed a hypothetical overview of utilizing the antimicrobial tiles against SARS-CoV-2. Overall, this review gives descriptive knowledge about the importance of antimicrobial tiles to create a clean and sustainable environment.

Keywords: Anatase; Antimicrobial tiles; COVID-19; Ceramic tiles; Glaze; Nanoparticles; SARS-CoV-2.

Fig. 1

Mechanism of disinfecting microbes using antibacterial tiles

Fig. 2

Schematic sketch of the antimicrobial activity of metal nanoparticles

Fig. 3

Glaze tiles resulted from the combustion with different TiO₂, from 0 to 5% (Adapted under creative common attribution 3.0 from [62]. b (a) 1% TiO₂glaze against E. coli; (b) 1% TiO₂ glaze against S. aureus; (c) 5% TiO₂ glaze againstE.coli; (d) 5% TiO₂ glaze against S. aureus; (e) 1% TiO₂ glazed tile against E. coli; (f) 1% TiO₂ glazed tile against S. aureus(Adapted under creative common attribution 3.0 from [62]

Fig. 4

Damage of viral components by Ag nanoparticles. Upon contact with the virus, they adhere to the cell membrane and disrupt the glycoprotein layer. After this, Ag nanoparticles undergo a cell signaling pathway and interact with the cell. Once interacted, Ag nanoparticles destroy the virus's envelope, glycoprotein, and genetic material [109]

Fig. 5

Silver nanoparticles and glass spheres to the joint matrix ( Modified from [42])

Fig. 6

(a) Clear zones represent the antibacterial activity of silver composites disks against S.aureus (control is water sample). (b) The bacteriostatic activity of the tile coated with silver/nepheline composite (c) sample of conventional tile (Retrieved from [67])

Fig. 7

Development of antimicrobial tiles from plastic waste