The development of low-cost, non-toxic, scalable antimicrobial textiles is needed to address the spread of deadly pathogens. Here, we report a polysiloxane textile coating that possesses two modes of antimicrobial inactivation, passive contact inactivation through amine/imine functionalities and active photodynamic inactivation through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This material can be coated and cross-linked onto natural and synthetic textiles through a simple soak procedure, followed by UV cure to afford materials exhibiting no aqueous leaching and only minimal...

Chemical protection (either temporary or permanent) is an essential tool for synthetic chemists, which involves blocking reactive sites on a molecule through covalent bonds. Miguel Soto, a CREATE NanoMat postdoc In the MacLachlan lab, has developed new protection approaches that rely on pure physical shielding. Recently, Dr. Soto has protected a redox-active molecule from heterogeneous reduction using physical shield (a macrocycle). This protecting unit stays in place and operates thanks to two flanking barriers (other macrocycles!) that are mechanical stoppers. Judicious selection of...