Use of atomic quantum cluster (AQC) as antimicrobial agents and biocides
AssigneeUniversidade De Santiago De Compostela
InventorsManuel Arturo Lopez Quintela, José Rivas Rey, María Carmen Blanco Varela
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Abstract
The invention relates to the use of stable atomic quantum clusters (AQC) with antimicrobial activity. The stable AQCs include at least 500 metal atoms (Mn, n<500), the metals being selected from among Au, Ag, Co, Cu, Pt, Fe, Cr, Pd, Ni, Rh, Pb or bi- or multi-metallic combinations thereof. Said AQCs are used as antimicrobial agents, antifungal agents and biocides at concentrations of the order of between 1 nM and 100 nM or more in relation to atoms of the corresponding metal. The antimicrobial activity is specific to both the type of metal and size of cluster used.
Claims14
A method for the inhibition of the growth of a microorganism, comprising:
- contacting the microorganism with 1 to 100 nM of stable Atomic Quantum Clusters (AQCs), the AQCs consisting of between 2 to less than 27 Au atoms and clusters of 2 to less than 27 Ag atoms.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.