A research team led by Prof. Tao Xiaoming, Director of the Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems (RI-IWEAR), first discovered that polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) such as polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) are fully biodegradable and resistant to bacteria and viruses, identifying PHAs as promising materials for biomedical applications. The team demonstrated the effectiveness of PHAs in removing more than 99.99% of drug- esistant bacteria and inactivating 99.99% of H1N1 and H3N2 viruses. They also found that PHAs possess excellent antimicrobial properties with effective bacterial reduction of S. aureus (> 99.99%), K. pneumoniae (> 99.99%), C. albicans (> 96.68%) and Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (84.44%).
Based on these findings, the team will explore the use of PHAs to produce fabrics and textiles for personal protective equipment and hygiene products (Figure 1) for households (quilt fillings and covers, bed sheets, pillow-cases, curtains and draperies, furniture fillings), healthcare (anti-bacterial wound dressing, surgical gowns, masks) and fashion (odour-free and anti-bacterial intimate apparel, socks, shoes). The technology of PHA production has been licensed and is now being exploited exclusively by a start-up company.
