The AMSCopper has been a project within the EU Seventh Research Frame Program (FP7) in the area of Research for the benefit of SMEs. The main objective of this two-year project was to develop a solution against diseases transmission through metallic objects, by the use of innovative copper based coatings with photo-catalytic anti-microbial and self-cleaning activity. AMSCopper's solution to this problem is designed to decrease the risk of infection via metallic surfaces by more than 50%.
Preventing and controlling infections is associated with healthcare in every aspect of our lives. The entire susceptible to infections population should be concerned and not just the ones who are being treated in hospitals.Bacteria can be found in common places such as handrails, trolleys, door knobs or other metallic surfaces and that's why the hazard of infection is more than evident since everyone comes in contact with them several times on a daily basis. And even though hand washing and sterilisation are the best possible conventional practices, still they are not sufficient enough to address the problem.
Researchers from 3 Research and Development Institutes (CERTH from Greece, Brunel University from the UK and Tecnalia from Spain) took the challenge up and collaborated in order to provide ready-to-implement solutions to 4 European Enterprises: Axon Engineering SA from Greece, Ceramic Powder Technology AS from Norway, Technochimica SRL from Italy and Electrolitikos Loran SA from Spain. Also, Metropolitan from Greece participated in the project as an end user in order to validate the effectiveness of the developed coatings.
To find more about the project's achievements you may watch the project video.