The Basics: Antimicrobial Technology
BioCote® is a market leading antimicrobial additive supplier. With over 25 years of experience, BioCote® has become an expert in antimicrobial technology and is committed to assisting businesses worldwide in producing products that are not only more hygienic but also better protected against the detrimental effects of microorganisms like bacteria and mould.
Antimicrobial Technology
“Antimicrobial technology” describes the collective knowledge, expertise and methods of using additives to create products that are permanently protected against microbes. BioCote® technology can be manufactured into a wide range of materials, including plastics, polymers, paints, coatings, textiles, and ceramics.
Antibacterial Technology
BioCote® antibacterial technology is effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria, including E. coli, MRSA, Salmonella, Campylobacter and Listeria.
By introducing BioCote® antibacterial additives during the manufacturing stage of a surface, you incorporate a distinct active agent that can be tailored into a concentrated powder, liquid suspension, or masterbatch pellet, depending on the intended material and manufacturing procedure.
What is an Antimicrobial Additive?
An antimicrobial is defined as something that can resist, inhibit and prevent the growth of microbes including bacteria and mould.
BioCote® has harnessed the properties of antimicrobial materials, otherwise known as ‘active ingredients’, and formulated them into a range of antimicrobial additives. During the manufacturing process, we integrate an additive into a surface, which incorporates a particular antimicrobial active like silver ion technology. This additive can be formulated into a concentrated powder, liquid suspension, or masterbatch pellet, contingent on the intended material and manufacturing process. Once infused into a product, the antimicrobial additive will work continuously to make a product more hygienic, minimising the potential for cross-contamination and extending a product’s functional lifetime.
Antimicrobial vs Antibacterial Additives
Whilst the terms “antimicrobial” and “antibacterial” are often used interchangeably, antibacterial and antimicrobial substances can differ in the types of microbes they are effective against. Whilst antibacterial additives are antimicrobial – not all antimicrobial additives are necessarily antibacterial.
Antibacterial additives
as the name may suggest, are effective against bacteria, including E. coli and S. aureus. Antibacterial substances are successfully applied in a wide variety of product types.
Antimicrobial additives
are effective not only against bacteria but also a wider range of microbes, such as mould and fungi. Integrated into materials during manufacturing, antimicrobial additives therefore offer a high-level, continuous protection for treated products against microbes for the lifetime of its use.
Reduce
microbes by up to 99.99%
BioCote® works continuously without an off switch to reduce the amount of microbes on a treated product
Improve
product hygiene
BioCote® works hand in hand with thorough cleaning practices to make a product more hygienic and easier to keep clean
Minimise
cross contamination
BioCote® minimises the potential of microbial cross-contamination from one surface to another
Minimise
staining & bad odours
BioCote® inhibits the growth of microbes on products that can cause foul smells and staining
Increase
product lifetime
BioCote® can extend a product’s functional lifetime by lowering the amount of microbes that might lead to material degradation
How Antimicrobial Technology Works to Protect your Product?
Introduced during the manufacturing process, BioCote® antimicrobial additives exert, by various modes of action, a negative effect on any contaminating microbes causing them to reduce.
BioCote® Antimicrobial Technology, Explained
As a complete supplier of antimicrobial solutions, you can trust that BioCote® has an antimicrobial additive to suit your needs for any application. Adding BioCote® protection to your product is incredibly simple: we’ve been doing it for over 25 years. That’s why market-leading companies around the world choose us as their preferred supplier.
Protein damage
Proteins are essential for the biological systems of life. Any damage to these components causes the failure of essential functions such as energy production.
Cell membrane damage
By disrupting the microbe’s membrane, its structural integrity is compromised, which can cause essential nutrients to leak out and catastrophic structural failure.
Oxidative damage
Antimicrobials can cause increased levels of reactive oxygen species, which result in damage to the internal systems of the microbe.
DNA interference
The genetic material of the microbe is disrupted, ultimately stopping the microbe from being able to replicate by blocking the copying of their genetic material.
