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[Graduate School of Science and Technology] KATO Ayano wins the Best Poster Paper Award at Biomaterials International 2023

Sep. 28, 2023

KATO Ayano, second-year master’s student in the Applied Chemistry Program at Graduate School of Science and Technology (Laboratory of Biomaterials) won the Best Poster Paper Award at Biomaterials International 2023 held from July 30 to August 3 at Hokkaido University.

The Laboratory of Biomaterial (Professor AIZAWA Mamoru) has cultivated a technology to immobilize silver ions, a kind of antibacterial metal ion, on the surface of materials containing calcium compounds by chemically modifying inositol phosphate, which has strong metal chelating ability, to impart antibacterial effects. On the other hand, fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) is an indispensable material for our daily lives, and its use ranges from plumbing products such as bathtubs and water storage tanks to some methods of embedding it in the body as a fracture fixture, so it is also required to be hygienic. Since calcium carbonate is contained on the surface of FRP, the laboratory has been working on the creation of FRP with infection resistance by the above antimicrobial property imparting process under the industry-academia collaboration research system with Toyugiken Co., Ltd.

This presentation focused on the durability of the antibacterial effect of antibacterial FRP, conducted multiple antibacterial tests, measured the silver ion content of FRP at each time point, and discussed the relationship between the results. As a result, it was found that the antibacterial FRP eluted silver ions in contact with liquid and attenuated the antibacterial effect, but the antibacterial effect can be recovered by re-immobilization of silver ions with inositol phosphate. These findings are expected to support the maintenance of antibacterial effect and continued use of antimicrobial FRP.

In recognition of the above research results, this research was awarded the Best Poster Paper Award at Biomaterials International 2023 (out of 101 applications, 15 were awarded). Biomaterials International 2023 brought together the international research communities from various scientific fields, including biology, physiology, materials science, physics, chemistry, engineering, and clinical science, to discuss biomaterials technologies and methodologies.

This research is a joint research with Toyugiken Co., Ltd. and was conducted as a part of the Japan Science and Technology Agency A-STEP tryout.

Award Name: Best Poster Paper Award
Society Name: Biomaterials International 2023
Presenter: 〇KATO Ayano・MIZUNO Hirohiko・SUZUKI Kitaru・KIKUCHI Tetsuo・AIZAWA Mamoru
Title: SUSTAINABILITY AND RECOVERY OF ANTIBACTERIAL PROPERTY OF SILVER ION MODIFIED FIBER-REINFORCED PLASTICS

Japanese version