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Microbial decontamination of barn surfaces using engineered water nanostructures (EWNS)

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Abstract

Engineered water nanostructures (EWNS) technology produces highly charged nanoscale water droplets with encapsulated reactive oxygen species (ROS) emerges as green microbial decontamination method. In this work, an electro-nanospray system was developed for the decontamination of common surfaces found in pig barns. Microbial inactivation of the device was tested at different conditions in a laboratory-scale on the inactivation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) at a bacterial concentration similar to pig barn surfaces levels. Pig barn surfaces were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and contact angle to understand the behaviors between the samples. Exposure time was the most influential operating parameter resulting in an E. coli log reduction of 2.66 after 40 min of exposure. On the other hand, decontamination efficiency was higher for wood, followed by concrete, metal and plastic with log reductions up to 2.96. EWNS technology was demonstrated as an efficient microbial decontamination method for animal confinement facilities surfaces treatment.

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Datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

FBG thanks to Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) for the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program Scholarship (ELAP) and to the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) for scholarship 636038. The authors thank the financial support of the University of Saskatchewan, the Ministry of Agriculture of Saskatchewan through the Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) and the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through Agrivita Canada Inc. The Potosine Institute for Scientific and Technological Research (IPICYT) and the National Laboratory of Research in Nanosciences and Nanotechnology (LINAN) for the characterization of the materials.

Funding

Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) for the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program Scholarship (ELAP). Ministry of Agriculture of Saskatchewan. Agrivita Canada Inc. National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) for scholarship 636038

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Materials Department, IPICYT, Camino a La Presa San José 2055, Lomas 4a Sección, 78216, San Luis Potosi, Mexico

    Felipe de Jesús Barraza-García & Emilio Muñoz-Sandoval

  2. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Felipe de Jesús Barraza-García, Roger E. Bolo & Lifeng Zhang

  3. Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Shelley Kirychuk & Brooke Thompson

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Huiqing Guo

  5. Prairie Swine Centre, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Bernardo Predicala

Authors
  1. Felipe de Jesús Barraza-García
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  2. Emilio Muñoz-Sandoval
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  3. Roger E. Bolo
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  4. Shelley Kirychuk
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  6. Huiqing Guo
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  7. Bernardo Predicala
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  8. Lifeng Zhang
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Contributions

Felipe de Jesús Barraza-García: Investigation, Writing—original draft. Emilio Muñoz-Sandoval: Writing—Review & Editing, Supervision. Roger E. Bolo: Conceptualization, Methodology. Shelley Kirychuk: Resources, Validation. Brooke Thompson: Resources, Validation. Huiqing Guo: Validation. Bernardo Predicala: Supervision, Validation, Lifeng Zhang: Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition, Writing—Review & Editing, Conceptualization.

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Correspondence to Lifeng Zhang.

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Barraza-García, F.d., Muñoz-Sandoval, E., Bolo, R.E. et al. Microbial decontamination of barn surfaces using engineered water nanostructures (EWNS). MRS Advances 9, 247–253 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43580-024-00880-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/s43580-024-00880-7

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